Motion Sickness Induced by Optokinetic Drums

Motion sickness is not only elicited by certain kinds of self-motion, but also by motion of a visual scene. In case of the latter, optokinetic drums are often used and a visual-vestibular conflict is assumed to cause the sickness. When the rotation axis is Earth vertical however, different studies show different results. Here, we propose that visual-vestibular conflicts per se do not cause sickness whereas subjective vertical mismatch theory can reconcile the disparate findings. The theory attributes the nausea induced by horizontal optokinetic stimulation to the subjects self-inducing pseudo-Coriolis by head movement. This highlights the shortcomings of an optokinetic apparatus-that is non-rigid or inaccurately oriented-and the importance of constraining the subject's behavior.