Fixation-identification algorithms, needed for analyses of eye movements, may typically be separated into three categories, viz. (i) velocity-based algorithms, (ii) area-based algorithms, and (iii) dispersion-based algorithms. Dispersion-based algorithms are commonly used but this application introduces some difficulties, one being optimization. Basically, there are two modes to reach this goal of optimization, viz., the start-point mode and the centroid mode. The aim of the present study was to compare and evaluate these two dispersion-based algorithms. Manual inspections were made of 1,400 fixations in each mode. Odds ratios showed that by using the centroid mode for fixation detection, a valid fixation is 2.86 times more likely to be identified than by using the start-point mode. Moreover, the algorithm based on centroid mode dispersion showed a good interpretation speed, accuracy, robustness, and ease of implementation, as well as adequate parameter settings.

Objective: The aim of the study was to investigate how motion sickness, triggered by an optokinetic drum, affects short term memory performance and to explore autonomic responses to perceived motion sickness.

Background: Previous research has found motion sickness to decrease performance, but it is not known how short term memory in particular is affected.

Method: Thirty-eight healthy participants performed a listening span test while seated in a rotating optokinetic drum. Measurements of motion sickness, performance, heart rate, skin conductance, blood volume pulse, and pupil size were performed simultaneously throughout the experiment.

Results: A total of 16 participants terminated the trial due to severe nausea, while the other 22 endured the full 25 minutes. Perceived motion sickness increased over time in both groups, but less among those who endured the trial. Short term memory performance decreased towards the end for those who terminated, while it increased for the other group. Results from the measured autonomic responses were ambiguous.

Conclusion: The present study concludes that performance, measured as short term memory, declines as perceived motion sickness progresses.

Application: This research has potential implications for command and control personnel in risk of developing motion sickness.

Objective: In this study, possible effects of motion sickness on encoding and retrieval of words were investigated.

Background: The impact of motion sickness on human performance has been studied with regards to psychomotor functions and over learned skills, as well as to novel situations requiring encoding and retrieval skills through the use of short term memory. In this study, possible effects of motion sickness on encoding and retrieval of words were investigated.

Method: Forty healthy participants, half of them males, performed a continuous recognition task (CRT) during exposure to a motion sickness triggering optokinetic drum. The CRT was employed as a measurement of performance and consisted of encoding and retrieval of words. The task consisted of three consecutive phases 1) encoding of familiar words; 2) encoding and retrieval of words under the influence of motion sickness; 3) retrieval of words after exposure.

Results: Data analysis revealed no significant differences in the ability to encode or retrieve words during motion sickness compared with a control condition. In addition, there were no significant correlations between the level of motion sickness and performance of the CRT.

Conclusion: The results indicate that encoding and retrieval of words are not affected by moderate levels of motion sickness. Application: This research has implications for operational settings where professionals experience moderate levels of motion sickness.

Background: Working while exposed to motions, physically and psychologically affects a person. Traditionally, motion sickness symptom reduction has implied use of medication, which can lead to detrimental effects on performance. Non-pharmaceutical strategies, in turn, often require cognitive and perceptual attention. Hence, for people working in high demand environments where it is impossible to reallocate focus of attention, other strategies are called upon. The aim of the study was to investigate possible impact of a mitigation strategy on perceived motion sickness and psychophysiological responses, based on an artificial sound horizon compared with a non-positioned sound source.

Method: Twenty-three healthy subjects were seated on a motion platform in an artificial sound horizon or in non-positioned sound, in random order with one week interval between the trials. Perceived motion sickness (Mal), maximum duration of exposure (ST), skin conductance, blood volume pulse, temperature, respiration rate, eye movements and heart rate were measured continuously throughout the trials.

Results: Mal scores increased over time in both sound conditions, but the artificial sound horizon, applied as a mitigation strategy for perceived motion sickness, showed no significant effect on Mal scores or ST. The number of fixations increased with time in the non-positioned sound condition. Moreover, fixation time was longer in the nonpositioned sound condition compared with sound horizon, indicating that the subjects used more time to fixate and, hence, assumingly made fewer saccades.

Conclusion: A subliminally presented artificial sound horizon did not significantly affect perceived motion sickness, psychophysiological variables or the time the subjects endured the motion sickness triggering stimuli. The number of fixations and fixation times increased over time in the non-positioned sound condition.