Development of a Vehicle-Based Experimental Platform for Quantifying Passenger Motion Sickness during Test Track Operations

Motion sickness in road vehicles may become an increasingly important problem as automation transforms drivers into passengers. Motion sickness could be mitigated through control of the vehicle motion dynamics, design of the interior environment, and other interventions. However, a lack of a definitive etiology of motion sickness challenges the design of automated vehicles (AVs) to address motion sickness susceptibility effectively. Few motion sickness studies have been conducted in naturalistic road-vehicle environments; instead, most research has been performed in driving simulators or on motion platforms that produce prescribed motion profiles. To address this gap, a vehicle-based experimental platform using a midsize sedan was developed to quantify motion sickness in road vehicles. A scripted, continuous drive consisting of a series of frequent 90-degree turns, braking, and lane changes were conducted on a closed track. The route was selected to be representative of naturalistic urban driving conditions and parameterized in terms of lateral and longitudinal acceleration intensities likely to produce motion sickness. Vehicle instrumentation included simultaneous measure of vehicle acceleration, passenger head kinematics, self-reported motion sickness ratings and associated sensations, and physiological responses. A no-task condition involved normative passenger behavior and unconstrained gaze. During the task condition, passengers read a handheld mini iPad tablet. The resulting vehicle-based experimental platform provided a reliable methodology designed to quantify motion sickness. Knowledge generated from studies with this platform will inform the design of AVs and the development and evaluation of countermeasures.