Written by Jessica Stauber, Josh Fischer, Amy Sanchez and Ka Zoua Moua
Do you ever wonder why you might have felt dizzy or nauseous after riding a thrilling amusement park attraction? There’s a good chance you might have been feeling the symptoms of motion sickness. Feelings of nausea, dizziness, shortness of breath, and having pale skin are all common indications of motion sickness. This is a common condition that many people experience when exposed to a great amount of movement in a car, train, plane or boat. In fact, one in three people are prone to experience motion sickness. So, what is a possible remedy for people who are highly susceptible to this condition? The company Citroen has recently created a product called SeeTroen. It is a pair of glasses that provide quick relief to the undesirable symptoms of motion sickness.
The image demonstrates the design of the SeeTroen glasses.
https://www.topgear.com/car-news/weird/check-out-citroens-special-motion-sickness-glasses
SeeTroen – The Simple Science Behind It
The SeeTroen glasses were created to help relieve motion sickness. These glasses help to resolve the conflict between the visual sense and the vestibular (balance) sense. The vestibular system’s primary function is to maintain a sense of balance and recognize movement. While looking at your phone, reading a book, or sitting in the backseat unable to see the horizon, your eyes will not be sensing any movement and believe you are staying stationary. However, while moving in any form of transportation, your vestibular system is sensing the movement that is taking place. This disconnect between the visual and vestibular senses is where motion sickness comes from and where these glasses come to help. The liquid in the glasses that surrounds the eyes, both the front and the side views, responds to motion which creates an artificial horizon. The liquid in the glasses follows the movement of the head or the mobile vehicle and then corresponds to the difference felt by the inner ear (a part of the vestibular sense). This eliminates the conflict between vision and the vestibular senses as it provides users at least one marker linked to gravity in their peripheral visual field. As soon as motion sickness symptoms occur, simply put on the glasses. In 95% of cases, the symptoms should disappear within 10-12 minutes and the remainder of the journey can be enjoyed worry free.
SeeTroen Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Effective within 10-12 minutes.
- They can relieve motion sickness for movement in planes, cars and trains.
- They can be used by adults and children (10+).
- There is a 95% efficacy rate for adults.
- They can be worn over other glasses.
Cons:
- Obscures peripheral vision.
- The cost of these glasses is 99 euros which are equivalent to approximately 100 US dollars.
References
Brennan, D. (2016, August 27). Motion Sickness: Symptoms, Causes, Treatment, Prevention. WebMD. Retrieved from https://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/ear-infection/motion-sickness#1
Matchar, E. (2018, July 24). Could These Glasses Cure Your Motion Sickness? Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved from https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/could-these-glasses-cure-your-motion-sickness-180969722/
Motion sickness. (n.d.). NIH U.S. National Library of Medicine: Genetics Home Reference. Retrieved from https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition/motion-sickness#genes
Picot, E. (2016, May 18). Motion Sickness: ‘Boarding Ring’ Glasses a Visible Inner Ear for the Eyes: SciTech Connect. Elsevier SciTechConnect. Retrieved from http://scitechconnect.elsevier.com/motion-sickness-boarding-ring-glasses/
Citroen. (2018, July 6). Citroën Launches the Glasses: SEETROËN! Citroen Cyprus. Retrieved from http://www.citroen.com.cy/seetroen/
Springer, K. (2018, July 27). Can these glasses cure motion sickness? CNN travel. Retrieved from https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/motion-sickness-citroen-seetroen-glasses/index.html
TheTravelHack. (2019, June 12). Seetroen Glasses Review: Can these glasses cure travel sickness? Retrieved from https://thetravelhack.com/review-2/seetroen-glasses-review/