Hi-Tech Goggles Set To Combat Air Sickness
The virtual world viewed on the headset tricks the passenger's eyes and brain to offset the motion nausea felt by some travellers.
03:10, Saturday 23 May 2015
Travel sickness goggles
Users can also view footage of their destination to help them acclimatise
By Enda Brady, Sky News Correspondent
Travel sickness on planes could soon be a thing of the past thanks to a new invention that effectively gives passengers a sense of balance, even though they are on a moving aircraft.
The £300 goggles are set to be unveiled at a technology convention in the US and could one day be part of every aircraft seat.
The firm behind the £300 goggles hope to secure fresh financial backing
They work by getting wearers to view a virtual horizon and if the plane shifts to one side, so too will the view, effectively tricking the passenger's eyes and brain.
"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," said Leon Codrington, product development manager for the company Flow IFE.
"It's when you get a difference in those two that motion sickness is induced.
"It's a simple technique and one that we think a lot of airlines will want to take a closer look at."
The technology may one day be found on every aircraft
Users of the goggles can also view footage of their destination to help them acclimatise ahead of their arrival.
It is estimated only 1% of air travellers suffer from motion sickness.
"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.
"It can be a very unpleasant experience and if the sensation and the movement continue, then you will probably continue feeling sick."
The firm behind the goggles are hoping to return from the US convention with fresh financial backing for a product they believe could change the way we fly forever.
