ST. JOHN’S, NFLD. – An international team of researchers is tossing the stomachs of volunteers on a simulated ship to better understand motion sickness. There is a fully enclosed, full-scale ship’s bridge inside Memorial University of Newfoundland’s Marine Institute. The simulated ship is mounted on massive hydraulic arms four metres into the air.
The American, British, Canadian and Dutch navies sponsor the motion sickness research.
Dutch scientist Dr. Jelte Bos is a world-renowned expert in equilibrium and orientation, but even his insides were a bit delicate riding the giant motion simulator.
“I’ve been in it several times now in the past days and I get used to it,” said Bos.
In one experiment, two subjects sit at laptop computers performing memory tests as the room or “ship” pitches and rolls, as if it were heaving through a storm on the Grand Banks.
The purpose is to explore the link between the rolling sea, the heaving stomach and how the brain deals with it all, said Scott MacKinnon, an ergonomics researcher at Memorial.
Throughout the experiment, scientists ask the subjects how they feel.
“These symptoms may go from just feeling a bit tired to vomiting,” said MacKinnon. “We ask the subjects to rate their symptoms using a misery index score.”
After 30 minutes of being tossed about, volunteer Tanya Lopez said the test was easier than the last time. “For me it’s always in my tummy, but my sea legs are fine.”
MacKinnon and Bos hope the queasy findings will lead to safer working environments at sea and perhaps even changes in ship design, such as applying better fins to control the roll of the motion.