Citroen, the French car maker, has recently unveiled a pair of glasses which can treat the symptoms of motion sickness. The glasses are named Seetroen. They use Boarding Ring technology which was created by a French start-up. It can treat the motion sickness within a few minutes. After wearing the glasses for 10 to 12 minutes, “the glasses enable the mind to resynchronize with the movement perceived by the inner ear while the eyes were focused on an immobile object such as a smartphone or a book.” After that, the wearer can take them off and enjoy the remaining journey.
Motion sickness occurs when the brain perceives conflicting reports about perceived motion from the eyes and the inner ear. This is usually not a problem when a person is looking out of the window because at that time both organs perceive the motion similarly. However, when you are looking down at a phone or a book, the eyes do not sense motion the same way and reports are sent to your brain which contradicts from those which are sent from the inner ear. The confusion which brain encounters results in motion sickness.
The phenomenon which enables these glasses to work is the plastic frames. The blue liquid in the rings around the eyes, along with the frontal axis and sagittal axis recreate the horizon line and resolve the conflict between the signals which are sent to the brain by the eyes and inner ear.
The liquid in the Seetroen rings replicates the angle and movements of the horizon such that the detected movement of the eyes matches that of the inner ear. Finally, there is no more motion sickness. Seetroen glasses are glassless. Therefore, they can be worn over other glasses as well. One only needs to wear them for a short while when the motion sickness starts to kick in.
Citroen has claimed to have collaborated with 5.5, a French collective design studio to come up with a “simple, fresh and comforting design” for the glasses. These are not the best looking glasses one can find in the market, but if they are providing the relief from motion sickness as advertised, then it is worth buying. One thing that might still be a problem is the price. Seetroen is being sold initially at the price of $115 and is available at the Citroen’s online store.
