MATE-AV: A VR-based training environment to teach occupants' how to adopt a comfort-oriented postural control in a vehicle

MATE-AV: A VR-based training environment to teach occupants' how to adopt a comfort-oriented postural control in a vehicle | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article MATE-AV: A VR-based training environment to teach occupants' how to adopt a comfort-oriented postural control in a vehicle Charlotte Croucher, Floris Pauwels, Rebecca Pham Xuan, Adrian Brietzke, and 2 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5879902/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Some of the envisaged designs of automated vehicles (AVs) are expected to provoke general discomfort and motion sickness (MS) in occupants. Current research on mitigating MS and ensuring ride comfort mainly focuses on optimising vehicle motion and creating efficient vehicle-user interaction. However, current efforts towards solutions focus on the vehicle configuration, hoping fast technological advancements will allow their implementation or require full attention from occupants. Meanwhile, limited research has explored how to train an occupant to adapt to the motion of AVs to mitigate MS for a long-term solution. New commercially available off-the-shelf virtual reality (VR) technology offers a viable, low-cost solution for creating immersive training environments. Therefore, using VR technology (static VR simulation, so only visual motions, no vibrational feedback from the vehicle motion), we developed a serious game (MATE-AV) to train AV occupants to adopt comfort-oriented postural control strategies (e.g., leaning into the curves) and self-enhance their motion comfort while being driven in the virtual environment. A mixed-design experiment with 16 participants was conducted to investigate the impact of the VR-based postural training for trunk and head alignment during curves along a route. The results indicate that the VR-based postural training motivated participants to move more. Participants in both groups aligned their trunk roll with the curve's direction, indicating their effort to adapt to the comfort-oriented postural control they were being trained for. However, participants moved their heads away from the direction of the curve, possibly compensating for trunk alignment. Our VR-based postural training could be a long-term solution for training future generations to self-enhance motion comfort in AVs by adopting comfort-oriented postural control strategies, leading to the wider acceptance of AVs. Automated Vehicles Virtual Reality Head-Mounted Displays Motion Comfort Training Human Factors Full Text Additional Declarations Competing interest reported. The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interest: A.B., and R.P.X. are employed by Volkswagen AG. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-5879902","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":405895481,"identity":"2bf63b61-6d60-4227-9cd1-9ae1acb7c482","order_by":0,"name":"Charlotte Croucher","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA6klEQVRIie3PsWqDQBzH8f+f/+AiuLr4DpZbhNp38QiYRegrHAi6CK5XfImMGQK5cOCUB8jQ4UKgc0oWu/WkzRS0jh3uCwdy8LkfArhc/7rQnisACg+N/UyWEZSZJURP4ueFBYT8JSQQnoGvXcrbruxvL4OOWiLP4HaahMqPsfnIuXzvV12RafZWEgo8TpMYfCBQmm/CgpElfKODg8Bqjnjml7zeKLFkr8eVWQLxfYUIxhX6g4Tajw+Nypk85QybfM2kXZF8hgR1fTaDSqNWri4wpM9RW5dw/azSSWL/HdTjbTYNXC6Xy7Wgb69yTxXJWfuRAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"","institution":"Delft University of Technology","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Charlotte","middleName":"","lastName":"Croucher","suffix":""},{"id":405895482,"identity":"2c340801-fea7-43d2-afd0-1e42059f99d5","order_by":1,"name":"Floris Pauwels","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Delft University of Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Floris","middleName":"","lastName":"Pauwels","suffix":""},{"id":405895483,"identity":"42941e12-d53f-4043-af5c-5442ef60fc68","order_by":2,"name":"Rebecca Pham Xuan","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Volkswagen AG","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Rebecca","middleName":"Pham","lastName":"Xuan","suffix":""},{"id":405895484,"identity":"11846bc7-34d1-415a-9116-64a0bd26a5d5","order_by":3,"name":"Adrian Brietzke","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Volkswagen AG","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Adrian","middleName":"","lastName":"Brietzke","suffix":""},{"id":405895485,"identity":"5b7dbeb4-e14c-4d3a-8b26-02c67a897264","order_by":4,"name":"Laura Marchal-Crespo","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Delft University of Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Laura","middleName":"","lastName":"Marchal-Crespo","suffix":""},{"id":405895486,"identity":"8d1f9583-4672-4a20-9fca-60f200c3ae58","order_by":5,"name":"Georgios Papaioannou","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Delft University of Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Georgios","middleName":"","lastName":"Papaioannou","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-01-22 10:23:17","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5879902/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5879902/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":89919730,"identity":"6bbbf2e5-ccff-46d1-bfb4-33c8c69382ed","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-08-26 12:32:09","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":988091,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"J30TrainingFrameworkMATEAVSpringer.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5879902/v1_covered_4f971b21-4f6b-4631-a572-68f03690a5bc.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"Competing interest reported. 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Current research on mitigating MS and ensuring ride comfort mainly focuses on optimising vehicle motion and creating efficient vehicle-user interaction. However, current efforts towards solutions focus on the vehicle configuration, hoping fast technological advancements will allow their implementation or require full attention from occupants. Meanwhile, limited research has explored how to train an occupant to adapt to the motion of AVs to mitigate MS for a long-term solution. New commercially available off-the-shelf virtual reality (VR) technology offers a viable, low-cost solution for creating immersive training environments. Therefore, using VR technology (static VR simulation, so only visual motions, no vibrational feedback from the vehicle motion), we developed a serious game (MATE-AV) to train AV occupants to adopt comfort-oriented postural control strategies (e.g., leaning into the curves) and self-enhance their motion comfort while being driven in the virtual environment. 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