Dancing Dots: The Hidden iPhone Setting That Cures Motion Sickness
The motion-sickness cure hidden in iPhone settings
I noticed people on the New York subway staring at dancing dots on their screens, a feature called Vehicle Motion Cues designed to alleviate motion sickness. Experts suggest these visual cues help the brain reconcile conflicting sensory inputs, reducing nausea. While some users swear by this setting, others find it ineffective. The irony remains that this cure might simply encourage more screen time during travel.
It is a bit of a bummer to have one less reason not to look at Instagram.
- croisillon
Related:
- yesterday, 110 comments - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49077999
- 43 days ago, 272 comments - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48557530
- jodacola
Learned about this last month from HN [0].
Subsequently took a 10 hour car trip where my wife and daughter both reported this feature allowed them both to read their books and articles while I was driving, which was definitely not the case on any prior road trip. So, add +2 to whatever Ns you're tracking.
- D13Fd
I’ve been using this for weeks, and it’s pretty incredible. I used to get motion sick especially quickly when I looked at my phone in a moving car. Now it’s the opposite, if I’m sick in a moving car, I try to look at my phone, which magically fixes it.
It’s amazing how that sick feeling in your stomach can be fixed by looking at some purely visual moving dots.
- dlcarrier
Also, if you have trouble with your phone displaying too much movement when you aren't moving, use the "Reduce Motion" settings in iOS, or in Adnroid enable developer options and set all animation scales to off.
This not only prevents vertigo-inducing animations, it also makes the phone much more responsive, as it doesn't have to wait for the animations.
If you don't think it affects you, still give it a try. Chances are you will find the phone more usable, even if you didn't initially notice it as a problem.
- shpx
I turned this off because it engages when you're on a flight and in that context it feels kind of nonsensical and just annoying. I don't think the people who made this thought about flights.