Vertical Accelerator for Visual-Vestibular Acuity Testing and Training

Military personnel are often subjected to significant amounts of vertical acceleration while carrying out their duties. This acceleration can interfere with the person's ability to perform their required tasks due to the vestibular ocular reflexes caused by viewing a platform fixed display. Also, it has been shown in literature that repeated exposure to this type of motion can desensitize a person from these natural reflexes. The development of a vertical lift mechanism and training station that can provide an important test/measurement/training function is proposed to provide the basis of a tool for testing and desensitizing of military individuals. Proposed for the test station is a vertical linear stage directly driven via high force linear motor technology. The carriage of this stage will include a chair and restraint system as well as a projection device for displaying visual optotypes. The system will include a fail safe brake system and all necessary redundancies to ensure the safety of the human subject.