The science behind the iOS 18 feature that prevents you from getting sick in the car

People who updated their iPhone or iPad To iOS 18 You can now take advantage of Car Driving Guidance, a new feature that could prove very useful when traveling this summer. Thanks to this, those who feel dizzy in the car while reading or looking at a cell phone can prevent this discomfort without doing anything. The device will take care of everything.

Some moving dots just appear on the screen. as the car moves. Thus, although our eyes are fixed on something else, the external movement is followed by a visual stimulus.

So far, people who have tried it say it works. This is possible because it is based on scientific evidence about car or motion sickness. So, what exactly is the well-researched science behind this iOS 18 feature?

Causes of car sickness

When we travel by car, our body is motionless, but in reality we are moving. Our view interprets that we are still but vestibular apparatus of the ear, responsible for balance, perceives that we are moving. This causes a conflict in our brain, so it tries to resolve it, but in the process causes dizziness and nausea.

Car sickness is much more common in vehicles that are driven a lot, and also when we have eyes are fixed on something. For example, a book or the screen of our mobile phone. This is why it is generally recommended to avoid reading or viewing any devices. In fact, the main recommendation is to travel in the front seat with our eyes fixed forward so that our brain interprets the displacement according to the movement through vision.

Benefits of the new iOS 18 feature

What happens if we have to work on our mobile phone during a long trip or want to check social media to make the time fly by? Should we give up if we are prone to car sickness?

Thanks to this new feature in iOS 18, this is no longer necessary. And while the dots are moving across the screen, the eyes are already seeing something in motion. Thanks to motion sensors mobile phone, including gyroscope, which detects the non-gravitational acceleration of the mobile phone, the points move precisely to compensate for the movement of the car. Thus, our brain does not come into conflict, since the signals coming to us through vision and the vestibular system coincide.

We might think it’s something annoying. However, since these are small and bright dots, they don’t necessarily distract us from what we’re actually seeing on the screen. Our eyes find them and keep our brain calm, but our attention remains on fixed images or letters. Moreover, although it usually activates itself, we can always choose manual activation and use it only when absolutely necessary.

There are people with such a sensitive nervous system that their brain very quickly comes into conflict. Therefore, they are much more prone to car sickness. In such cases, this new iOS 18 feature may not completely solve your problems. But it definitely provides some help. If you have one of these Apple devices, you have nothing to lose by trying it out.