Method to Mitigate Nystagmus and Motion Sickness with Head Worn Visual Display during Vestibular Stimulation

The impact of motion intolerance with resultant motion sickness is significant. It can result in incapacitating symptoms including nausea, emesis, unsteadiness, vertigo and loss of human performance. For those experiencing the symptoms, the result is often disabling with associated drowsiness, lack of concentration and disorientation. There are millions of people who annually experience motion sickness either because of vestibular stimulation or visually induced stimulation and the incidence is predicted to increase with increasing technology in new dynamic environments with advanced methods of locomotion and with the way we visualize information [1]. Researchers report that up to 60% of the population have some motion intolerance [2]. It is also known that some people are more susceptible than others; for example, women are more sensitive to motion than men by a ratio of about 5:3 [3]. Some are more susceptible due to physical reasons such as age. Studies show a significant genetic propensity to experience motion sickness. Susceptibility to motion sickness begins at about age two, and for most will peak in adolescence and decline gradually. However, many adults remain highly sensitive particularly when there is either an absence of a visual reference or exposed to significant levels of visual stimuli. In fact, a provocative visual stimulus has been shown to be the most influential cause of motion sickness symptoms. Reading in a moving vehicle, abruptly moving the head (such as looking down) while a vehicle is moving can provoke symptoms. Fear, anxiety and other psychological factors can contribute to the onset of motion sickness.