18 | Carsickness occurrence and influencing factors in a naturalistic environment - A 4-week field study

Surveys reported carsickness prevalence rates of 46% and 29% in adulthood, respectively, with NDRTs identified as influencing its onset and severity. With the shift toward automated driving increased engagement in non-driving related tasks (NDRTs) during car rides, a rise in the number of people affected by motion sickness is expected. Previous studies on car sickness during rides often used test tracks or predefined routes and focused on NDRTs like watching movies or playing games, although that surveys show texting, browsing, and reading are more common. To investigate motion sickness occurrence and the influence of NDRTs in a more realistic scenario a field study was conducted in which it was also possible to draw conclusions about the NDRTs actually carried out by motion sickness susceptible passengers. In total 25 participants took part in the study, including 16 females and 9 males. Ages ranged from 19 to 56 years (M = 37.64, SD = 10.86). The four-week study took place in the Stuttgart area, with participants instructed to follow their usual passenger behavior without specific restrictions. Using the customized "Kinetose App," participants completed a short questionnaire on personal factors at the start of each ride and manually reported symptoms and NDRTs as soon as they felt unwell. In total, 277 trips were recorded and analyzed. Carsickness occurred in 210 rides, with an average onset time of 8.85 minutes (SD = 8.1). Common NDRTs included talking, looking out the window, and listening to music, followed by social media use and texting.