Virtual reality headsets could help to tackle air sickness and jet lag during flights , according to a team of British engineers . A new device , called the Flow VR , provides passengers with a virtual image of the horizon that mimics the movements of the aircraft . This can help to combat the conflict between the information coming from a person 's eyes and their sense of balance in the inner ear , which can lead to travel sickness . The system , designed by In-flight entertainment company Flow IFE , can also present travellers with high quality images of their destination that replicate the time of day to help them acclimatise to their new time zone . Airline Qantas is the first to introduce virtual reality headsets to its passengers ( above ) to keep them entertained during long flights but the devices could also help combat problems like air sickness and jet lag . Leon Codrington , general manager for product development at in-flight entertainment company Flow IFE , which has created the device , told The Times : 'The worst thing for bringing on motion sickness is a disconnect between what the eyes are seeing and what the body is feeling . Self-driving cars may be a way to take your eyes off the road and relax a little , but they can also increase travel sickness , research has found . The research was carried out by Michael Sivak and Brandon Schoettle from the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute . They asked more than 3,200 adults across the US , India , China , Japan , Great Britain and Australia what kinds of activities they would do instead of driving in a fully self-driving vehicle . More than a third of Americans said they would do things that increase the likelihood and severity of motion sickness , including reading , texting , watching movies or television , playing games or working . More than half of Indians , 40 per cent of Chinese and up to 30 per cent of adults in Japan , Great Britain and Australia said they would also engage in these kinds of activities . The figures suggest that once autonomous vehicles become more mainstream as many as 12 per cent of people will feel ill in the vehicles at some point during a journey . 'If you 're sat still , looking at a seat in front that is n't moving , yet you can feel the aircraft weaving all over the skies , that can make you feel ill very quickly . 'What our system does is eliminate that disconnect by showing you a horizon that moves up and down as the aircraft does . ' The company showcased a prototype of its device at the Aircraft International Expo in Hamburg last week . The device uses accelerometers to detect the movement of the aircraft and displays a horizon that moves with it inside . The display can also provide passengers with a way of exploring their destination with three dimensional content . Notifications from the crew can also be displayed on the screen to help keep passengers informed while they can also be used to watch movies or play games . The headsets are expected to cost between £300 and £500 each . Virtual reality headsets , however , are already starting to be introduced as part of in-flight entertainment systems on aircraft . Qantas became the first airline to offer viritual realilty headsets to first class passengers earlier this year . For years virtual reality headsets have had their own motion sickness problem as the graphics often failed to keep pace with the users movements . The graphic above shows how the virtual reality goggles would help to relieve the symptoms of travel sickness . The VR headsets would use accelerometres to detect the movement of the aircraft so it can be displayed on the screen , helping to reduce the mismatch between the eyes and inner ear that can lead to travel sickness . However , new devices have started to overcome this by using faster graphics and screen refresh rates . Recent research by Purdue university also found that inserting an image of a virtual human nose into an virtual reality image could also help reduce nauseousness . Mr Codrington told Mail Online that their device could distinguish from movements of the wearers head and the aircraft by using motion sensors that are connected to the seat or from a wireless signal from the aircraft . He said they also hoped to begin talks with a company that makes external cameras to produce a 360 degree live view outside of the aircraft for passengers .
British technology company Flow IFE has built a prototype device that shows passengers virtual horizon that mimics the movement of the aircraft . Device helps to combat the disconnect between eyes and sense of balance . Comment: