Samsung just unveiled a new app which could help to combat motion sickness.
It uses a specific frequency played through earbuds to stimulate your balance system.
If you've ever experienced motion sickness while travelling, you'll know it can be utterly debilitating. Fortunately, Samsung may have just found a solution, using their Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro to help.
The change comes with a new app called Hearapy, which is solely dedicated to this purpose. In essence, the app plays a 100Hz sine wave, which studies at the Nagoya University in Japan have proven to stimulate the vestibular system – the one which helps your balance.
The brand suggests that just 60 seconds of listening to this tone can improve your balance for up to two hours. The idea, therefore, is that you listen to this before taking a journey to provide relief from the effects of motion sickness.
The brand suggests using the app with a pair of the current flagship Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro. It's worth noting, though, that there doesn't seem to be a limitation to that end – I tried them with a pair of earbuds from another brand and it seems to have worked just fine.
The process itself feels a little strange to begin with, but it's nothing to worry about. It sounds like low-end feedback, and quickly gets boring over the course of the 60 seconds.
Now, I don't have anywhere to go travelling at the moment, so I can't directly comment on its abilities in that regard, but I do feel much more clear-minded since. Maybe it's a placebo, but I do think I can feel a difference.
Either way, it's a really interesting use for modern technology. Studies suggest one in three people suffer from motion sickness, meaning this could have major, widespread impact.
I'm one of them, so while I haven't been able to give this a proper test this time out, I'd be keen to do so in the future. If this works, it could end up being one of the most valuable apps I own.
