Nauseous Flyer? New Goggles May Calm Your Stomach

A London-based technology firm has developed goggles that help to combat motion sickness in air passengers.

Much to the relief of queasy flyers everywhere, travel sickness could soon be a thing of the past. Eschewing pills and wristbands for something a bit more high-tech, a London-based firm has developed goggles that use virtual reality to combat air sickness.

As those who suffer from this affliction know, motion sickness occurs when the signals received by the brain from the inner ear are out of synch with those received by the eyes. “Not very many people suffer from air sickness, but if you do get it and you are sick then it tends to carry on,” said British Airways doctor Mark Popplestone in an interview with Sky News.

Developed by Flow IFE, the goggles ease motion sickness by unifying the signals that are received by the brain from the ears and eyes. When worn, the virtual reality headset displays an image of the horizon which then reacts and shifts to follow the movement of the aircraft. This means that all of a traveler’s senses are synchronized, thus preventing the onset of motion sickness.

Speaking to Sky News, Leon Codrington, product development manager at Flow IFE, explained that, “By having the aircraft control the movement of the virtual world in the headset, what the body feels and what your eyes tell your brain become the same thing.”

However, the goggles, which are due to be unveiled at an upcoming technology convention in the U.S., cost up to $500 per set. So, while they may not yet be a cost-effective remedy to motion sickness, Codrington hopes that carriers will keep the headset in mind for the future comfort of their passengers.

[Photo: Sky News / Flow IFE]