Methodological Considerations Concerning Motion Sickness Investigations during Automated Driving

Abstract

Automated driving vehicles will allow all occupants to spend their time with various non-driving related tasks like relaxing, working, or reading during the journey. However, a significant percentage of people is susceptible to motion sickness, which limits the comfort of engaging in those tasks during automated driving. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the phenomenon of motion sickness during automated driving and to develop countermeasures. As most existing studies concerning motion sickness are fundamental research studies, a methodology for driving studies is yet missing. This paper discusses methodological aspects for investigating motion sickness in the context of driving including measurement tools, test environments, sample, and ethical restrictions. Additionally, methodological considerations guided by different underlying research questions and hypotheses are provided. Selected results from own studies concerning motion sickness during automated driving which were conducted in a motion-based driving simulation and a real vehicle are used to support the discussion.

Editorial for Special Issue: Test and Evaluation Methods for Human-Machine Interfaces of Automated Vehicles

“…The fifth paper "Methodological Considerations Concerning Motion Sickness Investigations during Automated Driving" by Mühlbacher, Tomzig, Reinmüller and Rittger [17] discusses methodological aspects for investigating motion sickness in the context of automated driving including measurement tools, test environments, sample, and ethical restrictions. Additionally, methodological considerations guided by different underlying research questions and hypotheses are provided.…”

Electrogastrography in Autonomous Vehicles—An Objective Method for Assessment of Motion Sickness in Simulated Driving Environments

“…With the vehicle taking complete control of the driving process, the drivers’ role is expected to change completely, enabling them to work or entertain themselves throughout the journey. However, it has been shown that engaging in tasks such as reading [ 1 ] or performing visual search tasks [ 2 ] that deprive passengers of a clear view of the external moving environment, can lead to increased motion sickness (MS), introducing a new challenge for autonomous vehicles’ infotainment designs [ 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ]. Iskander et al have written an extensive review on the new “autonomous car sickness” (i.e., motion sickness, perceived in autonomous vehicles) in comparison to classic “car sickness” [ 4 ], expressing the need to separately study MS in AVs.…”

“…The most commonly used subjective methods for assessing MS in vehicles include the Motion Sickness Questionnaire (MSQ) [ 16 , 17 ] or its derivative—Simulator Sickness Questionnaire (SSQ) [ 18 ] for detailed overall evaluation of MS, Fast Motion Sickness Scale (FMS) [ 19 ] for faster multiple evaluations during the study trials and Motion Sickness Susceptibility Questionnaire (MSSQ) [ 20 ] or Georgia Tech Simulator Sickness Screening Protocol Paper (GTSSSP) [ 21 ] for screening drivers’ susceptibility to MS. Some researchers also use separate Likert scales to assess different aspects of MS [ 5 ]. Subjective MS effects identified with subjective assessments are usually collected post-trial and provide an overall score.…”

“…It is therefore important to investigate methods for real time and continuous assessment of MS, which can be time and event correlated. As subjective measurements could sometimes be biased, there is also an ongoing need in the research community for the development of objective measurement methods [ 4 , 5 ]. Despite low overall success, correlations of drivers’ physiological signals with the symptoms of MS have been established through heart rate variability [ 22 , 23 , 24 ], body temperature [ 25 ], skin conductance [ 25 , 26 , 27 ] and electrogastrogram [ 27 , 28 ].…”

“…Despite low overall success, correlations of drivers’ physiological signals with the symptoms of MS have been established through heart rate variability [ 22 , 23 , 24 ], body temperature [ 25 ], skin conductance [ 25 , 26 , 27 ] and electrogastrogram [ 27 , 28 ]. Among the research, the most often reported and widely studied MS symptom is nausea [ 4 , 5 , 11 , 25 , 29 , 30 ]. Since nausea and vomiting come from gastrointestinal distress [ 12 , 18 ], there is a reasonably high probability for successful detection of MS with techniques that are primarily used to monitor the gastrointestinal tract [ 31 , 32 ].…”