Autonomous vehicles are still pretty much in the testing stage. One particular player, however, is already thinking about the potential issues that such self-driving vehicles might create. Small issues, i.e., are being worked upon by Volkswagen. One that is quite commonplace - Motion Sickness.
Volkswagen has already set its scientists in Wolfsburg, Germany on the task. As per a press release by the company, the auto major is thinking of ways to avoid car sickness in autonomous vehicles. Once the era of such vehicles dawns, the number of travellers susceptible to motion sickness will rise.
Why? Very simply, there will be one more person in the car who is not driving. Now, as you might know, motion sickness arises when your senses, eyes and ears in this case, get confused by the unmatched movement of the body. While one is driving, such sickness is less likely to happen, as the body is ready for the movement of the vehicle, as pre-decided by the brain.
(Image: Volkswagen Group)
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For its testing, Volkswagen is letting people watch visuals on tablets inside a moving car on a test track. The idea is to arise the sensation of motion sickness and then find ways to tackle it. For helping the passengers tackle the feeling, the German car manufacturer is making changes to the vehicle itself.
This, through ¡°special movable seats¡± that react to driving changes and ¡°LED light strips¡± on the door panels. The lights react as per the driving as well, illuminating in green and red during acceleration and braking respectively.
From what Volkswagen has inferred from its testing, the changes to the vehicle have already shown to have an impact on the feeling of motion sickness. Even with the initial success, the team is still looking for more such methods for the purpose at hand. The next focus is to helping the passengers avoid the feeling while the vehicle takes corners, i.e. a transverse movement.
Though is no reason to be skeptical of the study, the fact of the matter remains that such vehicles are a long way from becoming a reality. While self-driving capability in vehicles has been achieved up to a limit, there is still a long way to go for the cars to actually drive without a driver. Even as the corresponding technology is rolled out, there will be a long legislative battle to be fought before such vehicle ply on the roads. Here are some questions and their answers around autonomous cars that you would want to know.