FRESH THINKING Beat travel sickness
Free time in self-driving cars? No fun if you’re puking…
No cure for travel sickness has been found in the 130odd years since the car was invented. What’s changed?
In self-driving cars we will all be passengers, and it’s passengers who tend to su er. In theory, once freed from the tyranny of the steering wheel we’ll be able to catch up on emails, maybe do some knitting. But not if it makes us ill.
Someone’s cracked it?
No, but progress is being made by, among others, JLR. They’ve recorded 15,000 miles of data, measuring the link between motion sickness and in-car activity such as texting.
How does this data help?
In personalising a car’s setup – from the suspension to the ventilation – to minimise the risks. Things such as seat height can make a big di erence. So can having the sat-nav audible, so occupants can anticipate changes in direction. And a cooling-seat function can make a world of di erence, as many have already found. The indings of this ongoing project will feed into JLR’s design process, to give the company an edge when it’s creating cabins that people will want to pay a premium to be driven in.
And if you can’t stretch to a new Jag?
Take a deep breath and look out of the window.