Preventing Simulator Sickness in Onboard Flight Simulators

As more flight training is done in simulators instead of aircraft, the effects of simulator sickness on pilots is having a bigger impact on their training schedule. Navy pilots not only have to deal with simulator sickness, but with the compounding effect of being on-board a moving ship, whose motions do not correspond to the mission they are flying in their simulator. This combination of effects can exacerbate sim-sickness, resulting in reduced training and possibly reduced pilot effectiveness, especially if the simulator exposure makes the pilot unfit to fly. SA Photonics, along with its teammates from the Virginia Modeling and Simulation Center, have come up with an innovative method of predicting simulator sickness on an individual basis, real-time, for each mission. We will modify the mission if necessary, to ensure pilots can complete each training mission without becoming sim-sick. We will also develop a training system that can help condition pilots so that the effects of shipboard sim-sickness are minimized. As part of this, we will investigate the design of a portable training hardware system, which will habituate pilots to simulator and motion sickness without having to tie up the flight simulator.