Immediate help for seasickness
The artificial horizon
Seasickness is caused by a sensory conflict: The eye reports a standstill – for example in the windowless inner cabin of a ship – while the balance organ simultaneously senses the movement. Some ship travelers currently manage below deck with a half-filled water bottle on the table to make the ship's movement visible to the eye again. The artificial horizon in the app is essentially the modern, digital translation of this principle directly on the screen. It gently balances the conflict by making real movement synchronously visible. Use this method ideally on the ship below deck.
Why this helps: The display of an earth-referenced line provides the brain with the missing visual movement information back. On the screen, you see the bow of a ship and the sea with a mountain range on the horizon. While the bow remains rigid, the background image tilts exactly synchronously to the actual swaying based on the sensor data of your smartphone. Your brain thus gets the missing visual confirmation of the movement back, which gently relieves the queasy feeling in the stomach.
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Scientific Background & Sources
Background: The display of an earth-referenced line provides the brain with the missing visual movement information (inertial cues). This resolves the sensory conflict and prevents the error message in the brain that leads to travel discomfort.
Source: Bos, J. E., et al. (2005/2012). TNO Human Factors / Vrije Universiteit.
Calming for nausea, fear of flying, inner restlessness, or feelings of panic
Situational Breathing Techniques
Find your inner balance again. Whether your stomach gets queasy on winding roads, you are nervous while boarding the plane, or you feel a sudden wave of panic – your breath is your strongest anchor. Viativity offers you four targeted rhythms in the "Breathing Techniques" tool, which are matched exactly to your current state.
Gentle haptic vibrations guide you blindly through the rhythm. So you can close your eyes and concentrate entirely on your relaxation:
- For nausea (4-2-6 rhythm): Inhale for 4 seconds, hold for 2 seconds, exhale for 6 seconds. Gently calms the stomach and circulation and relieves the queasy feeling in the stomach.
- For fear of flying (4-7-8 rhythm): Inhale for 4 seconds, hold for 7 seconds, exhale for 8 seconds. The extra-long exhalation signals safety to the body and immediately dampens acute feelings of anxiety.
- For inner restlessness (4-4-4-4 Box Breathing): Evenly inhale, hold, exhale, and hold empty for 4 seconds each. Relieves stress without making you tired.
- For feelings of panic (3-1-8 Physiological Sigh): Inhale for 3 seconds and fill your lungs to 70%, inhale again for 1 second and fill your lungs completely, exhale with an audible sigh for 8 seconds. Breaks through acute tension in seconds.
Why this helps: Consciously controlling and prolonging your exhalation specifically activates your body's resting nerve. This gently dials down stress reactions, signals relaxation to the brain, and noticeably dampens the urge to vomit while traveling.
Scientific Background & Sources
Background: Controlled, slowed breathing (Paced Breathing) stimulates the vagus nerve and increases heart rate variability (HRV). This significantly dampens physical arousal and has proven effective for accompanying restless travel as well as in stressful situations.
Source: Stromberg et al. (2015); Russell et al. (2014); Yılmaz & Çırpan (2022); Vierra et al. (2022); Feneberg & Nater (2026); Balban et al. (2023) on kinetosis, stress, and anxiety regulation.
Preventive Training for the Journey
Visual Training
Prepare yourself weeks before the vacation so that the trip to your destination starts relaxed. A trained spatial imagination helps the brain process spatial and movement data more efficiently on the journey. IMPORTANT: This is purely preventive training. Practice daily for about 15 minutes in peace before the trip. Application: Decide in the interactive game whether the right 3D figure is identical (just rotated) or mirrored. You have one joker per level.
Why this helps: Such spatial visual training trains the brain to resolve conflicting signals and movements much faster. This can significantly reduce individual susceptibility to travel discomfort in advance.
Scientific Background & Sources
Background: Research by the University of Warwick (2021) showed that a two-week spatial vision training (visuospatial training) can reduce susceptibility to travel discomfort by over 50%. A trained spatial imagination helps the brain process movement data more efficiently.
Source: Smyth, J. et al. (2021). University of Warwick / Applied Ergonomics.
