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. 2017 Nov 9;12(11):e0187120.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0187120. eCollection 2017.

Effects of decades of physical driving on body movement and motion sickness during virtual driving

Thomas A Stoffregen  1 , Chih-Hui Chang  2 , Fu-Chen Chen  2 , Wei-Jhong Zeng  2
Affiliations

Effects of decades of physical driving on body movement and motion sickness during virtual driving

Thomas A Stoffregen et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

We investigated relations between experience driving physical automobiles and motion sickness during the driving of virtual automobiles. Middle-aged individuals drove a virtual automobile in a driving video game. Drivers were individuals who had possessed a driver's license for approximately 30 years, and who drove regularly, while non-drivers were individuals who had never held a driver's license, or who had not driven for more than 15 years. During virtual driving, we monitored movement of the head and torso. During virtual driving, drivers became motion sick more rapidly than non-drivers, but the incidence and severity of motion sickness did not differ as a function of driving experience. Patterns of movement during virtual driving differed as a function of driving experience. Separately, movement differed between participants who later became motion sick and those who did not. Most importantly, physical driving experience influenced patterns of postural activity that preceded motion sickness during virtual driving. The results are consistent with the postural instability theory of motion sickness, and help to illuminate relations between the control of physical and virtual vehicles.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. The driving game.
(A) Overhead representation of the course (circuit). (B) Momentary driver’s-eye view.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Symptom severity (SSQ Total Severity Scores) for the well and sick groups.
(A) Drivers. (B) Non-Drivers. Pre: Pre-exposure. Post: Post-exposure.
Fig 3
Fig 3. Movement data, illustrating the statistically significant 2-way interactions between Time Windows and Sickness Groups.
(A) Positional variability of the head in the AP axis. (B) Positional variability of the head in the ML axis. (C) Positional variability of the torso in the AP axis. (D) Positional variability of the torso in the ML axis. (E) Temporal dynamics (α of DFA) of the torso in the AP axis.
Fig 4
Fig 4. Movement data, illustrating the statistically significant 2-way interactions between driving experience and Time Windows.
(A) Positional variability of the head in the AP axis. (B) Positional variability of the head in the ML axis. (C) Positional variability of the torso in the AP Axis. (D) Positional variability of the torso in the ML axis. (E) Temporal dynamics (α of DFA) of the head in the AP axis. (F) Temporal dynamics (α of DFA) of the torso in the AP axis.
Fig 5
Fig 5. Positional variability, illustrating the statistically significant 2-way interactions between driving experience and Sickness Groups.
(A) The head in the AP axis. (B) The head in the ML axis. (C) The torso in the AP axis. (D) The torso in the ML axis.
Fig 6
Fig 6. Positional variability of the head in the AP axis.
The figure illustrates the statistically significant 3-way interaction between Driving Experience, Time Windows, and Sickness Groups. (A) Well group. (B) Sick group.
Fig 7
Fig 7. Positional variability of the torso in the AP axis.
The figure illustrates the statistically significant 3-way interaction between Driving Experience, Time Windows, and Sickness Groups. (A) Well group. (B) Sick group.
Fig 8
Fig 8. Temporal dynamics (α of DFA) of the torso in the AP axis.
The figure illustrates the statistically significant 3-way interaction between Driving Experience, Time Windows, and Sickness Groups. (A) Well group. (B) Sick group.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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