New function in iOS 18: How the iPhone combats motion sickness
If you regularly feel sick when looking at your iPhone screen in the car or on the bus, there is a solution. iOS 18 automatically adapts to movements.
Small points in iOS 18 ensure that the user feels less sick.
(Image: Apple)
Many people know the problem: if they are in a rocking vehicle, they can only read something on their smartphone with difficulty because they quickly feel sick. Apple wants to help here with iOS 18: A new function available throughout the operating system helps to combat so-called motion sickness. It can already be tried out as part of the developer beta, the third version of which Apple published this week.
Small dots move to the beat
The new motion sickness function can be accessed via the Control Center. To accomplish this, however, you must first add the appropriate button, which is located in the "Accessibility – Vision" section. Apple calls the feature "Vehicle Motion Cues" (VMC). Once the button has been saved, it can be switched on and off as required via the Control Center. It is even possible to have the iPhone detect whether you are in a vehicle. The VMC function then switches on automatically.
The measure, which is intended to prevent or at least mitigate motion sickness, is quite subtle: it works with small black dots that follow the rhythm of the vehicle, i.e. its movements. If the vehicle brakes, accelerates or drives around bends, the dots follow this. The iPhone's integrated acceleration or motion sensor is used for this purpose. The dots are small enough that they are not noticeable when reading or watching videos, but helpful enough that the screen display is not too static.
Also intended for the iPad
Motion sickness occurs when you look at an immobile area (here: the iPhone screen) while the surroundings are moving, which the human body senses. Some people can hardly stand it, they feel sick and have to vomit. Others just get a little dizzy. With the dots, what is shown on the iPhone now moves with the vehicle virtually in real time, which is supposed to bring relaxation.
"Research shows that motion sickness is often caused by a sensory conflict between what a person sees and what they feel, which can prevent some users from comfortably using their iPhone or iPad while traveling in a moving vehicle," Apple writes. The VMC feature is also set to become part of iPadOS 18, here with customized (larger) dots. iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 are expected to be released in September.
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