Monash University research has the potential to help captains 
of both commercial and military vessels reduce the effect of motion sickness.

By Derek Brown

With symptoms ranging from headaches and sweaty hands to an overwhelming feeling of nausea, motion sickness can be a debilitating affliction for many who travel by sea, whether they are members of a naval crew or simply day-trippers on a ferry.

Though there are a multitude of remedies for motion sickness, such as sitting near the ship’s centre of gravity, lying down during a rocky sea crossing, and a variety of pills, no one remedy will work for all people in all situations.

Believing that early detection is the best medicine, Monash researchers from the Australian Maritime Engineering Cooperative Research Centre (AMECRC) have succeeded in creating a motion sickness monitor that alerts a ship’s captain to the percentage of passengers likely to be suffering from motion sickness at any given time.

	Mr Paul Goldburg, Dr Rohan Smith and Dr Len Koss.

AMECRC researcher and Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Monash Dr Len Koss believes the device will be useful in reducing levels of motion sickness on both commercial and military vessels.

"The device, mounted on the deck of any vessel, could warn the captain when a large percentage of passengers or crew are likely to suffer from motion sickness, allowing time to take evasive action such as slowing down or changing course," Dr Koss said.

According to Dr Koss, even though the exact causes of motion sickness are not known, several theories exist. "We know that motion sickness can occur where the body experiences a large low-frequency vertical movement – exactly the conditions experienced by a stationary person on a ship rocking on the ocean," he said.

The motion sickness monitor was produced at Monash University by Dr Koss and centre colleagues Dr Rohan Smith and Mr Martin Gonda, with the help of Mr Paul Goldenberg. By recording the amount of vertical movement experienced by the vessel, the monitor can predict the expected incidence of motion sickness using a variety of measures including a mathematical model developed by Dr Smith.

Known as the kinetosis measure, the mathematical model is the result of six years of research by Dr Smith into improvements to both the British and international standards for measuring motion sickness.

"These standards were created for different ocean environments to those experienced by Australian-built high-speed ferries. The British standard, for instance, was designed for the English Channel where the condition of the sea, whether calm or rough, remains constant throughout the trip," Dr Smith said.

"In Australia, where many high-speed ferries are likely to experience both areas of open, rough ocean and sheltered tracts, we need a system of measurement which can deal with constantly changing ocean conditions."

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