Tag: Motion Sickness

  • Samsung Galaxy Buds App Reduces Motion Sickness Effectively

    Samsung Galaxy Buds App Reduces Motion Sickness Effectively

    Key Takeaway

    1. The Hearapy app helps reduce motion sickness by playing a 100Hz bass sine tone through Galaxy Buds 4 Pro, stimulating the balance system.
    2. Listening to the tone for 60 seconds before travel can alleviate symptoms, with effects lasting up to two hours.
    3. The app is compatible with most headphones, not just Galaxy Buds 4 Pro, especially earbuds with a closed-ear design for optimal results.

    New App from Samsung to Combat Motion Sickness

    Samsung has recently launched a innovative application called Hearapy, which aims to help reduce symptoms of motion sickness using their latest Galaxy Buds 4 Pro. This isn’t an FDA-approved hearing aid like the AirPods Pro 2, but it’s a helpful tool for many users looking for relief during travel or motion-related discomforts.

    How It Works and Usage Instructions

    The app plays a specific 100Hz bass sine tone that targets the vestibular system, which is responsible for balance. Users are advised to listen to this tone for 60 seconds before their journey. The playback time can be customized from 40 to 120 seconds. According to Samsung, the beneficial effect can last up to two hours, allowing for multiple uses as needed. The idea is to stimulate the balance system without needing any medication, making it a simple, non-invasive method.

    Research Backing the Technology

    Development of Hearapy was influenced by research conducted at Nagoya University, Japan. Scientists discovered that a 100Hz tone played at 80-85db for a minute can significantly help those suffering from motion sickness by improving their balance. It’s important that the tone isn’t drowned out by music or ambient sound for maximum effect. This discovery underpins the app’s functionality, making it a science-backed solution for sufferers.

    Device Compatibility and Flexibility

    Although Samsung highlights the Galaxy Buds 4 Pro in the app’s description, reports from SamMobile suggest that the app might work with nearly any headphones, even if they aren’t from Samsung. This flexibility is great, especially as the Galaxy Buds 4 Pro are priced at $249.99 on Amazon. For best results, users are recommended to prefer earbuds with a closed-ear design to ensure a snug fit for optimal sound delivery and comfort. This means you don’t necessarily need to own the latest Galaxy Buds to try the app’s benefits.

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  • Mirror’s Edge: Clean White City as Practical Design Solution

    Mirror’s Edge: Clean White City as Practical Design Solution

    Key Takeaways

    1. Initial Concept: Mirror’s Edge was originally designed with a dark, brown dystopian city vibe, similar to other Unreal Engine games of that time.

    2. Motion Sickness Issue: Early testers experienced motion sickness due to the detailed environments, prompting the team to simplify the design for better gameplay experience.

    3. Artistic Direction Change: The final artistic style emerged from the need to address motion sickness, leading to a cleaner, less detailed world with vibrant colors and large open spaces.

    4. Unique Identity: The development team aimed to create a distinctive visual identity for Mirror’s Edge, ensuring that players could recognize it at a glance in magazines.

    5. Legacy and Influence: Released in 2008, Mirror’s Edge sold over 2.5 million copies and inspired parkour gameplay in other games, despite its sequel, Mirror’s Edge Catalyst, facing criticism for its repetitive storyline.

    The creators of the well-known parkour game released in 2008, Mirror’s Edge, recently talked with Design Room about the game’s original idea. While we are used to the game’s clean white look, with red markers showing where to go, the first concept was quite different.

    Change in Direction

    At first, Mirror’s Edge was designed to have a dark, brown, dystopian city vibe, similar to many Unreal Engine games from that era. However, the developers had to abandon this plan because the fast movements and parkour features made them feel very nauseous, much like how players feel when using a VR headset to play Mirror’s Edge.

    Senior producer Owen O’Brien mentioned that the first design made players feel sick quickly, which led the team to create a more simplified, less detailed yet beautiful world that helped reduce motion sickness, ultimately giving Mirror’s Edge its bright and appealing look, which people still admire today.

    A Necessity for Change

    The main artistic design of Mirror’s Edge came from a need rather than just artistic intent. O’Brien shared in the interview, “Mirror’s Edge started off looking like every other Unreal game, to be honest.”

    Problems arose when early testers raced through detailed settings, causing a disconnect between what they saw on the screen and what their bodies expected.

    O’Brien added, “We found that when you were moving very fast through the world, you got motion sickness very quickly. We discovered that it was less if you made the world cleaner and less detailed.”

    Prototype Reflections

    Art director Johannes Söderqvist also shared his thoughts, calling the prototype “pretty brown, like a regular game, if you will. It wasn’t bad; it looked good, actually. But there was no style to it, or a fairly generic style.”

    Seeing the motion sickness problem alongside the standard seventh-generation console art style, O’Brien encouraged the team to explore new artistic ideas to make the game unique. He recalled, “I said to the team, I want to look at a screenshot of Mirror’s Edge in a magazine and know it’s our game.”

    So, Söderqvist and the design team started playing around with textures, removing colors to create large, open spaces, which were highlighted by flashes of bold greens, blues, reds, and yellows throughout the levels.

    Reception and Legacy

    Mirror’s Edge was launched for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2008, selling over 2.5 million copies. It received praise for its unique gameplay and world design, though the story was seen as lacking.

    In 2016, the game was rebooted as Mirror’s Edge Catalyst. It improved on the open-world design but didn’t add much more to engage players, and the repetitive storyline hurt sales. Nonetheless, it did inspire parkour gameplay in titles like Dying Light.

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