Alleviating Seasickness Through Brain–Computer Interface-Based Attention Shift

Seasickness poses a widespread problem that adversely impacts both passenger comfort and the operational efficiency of maritime crews. Although attention shift has been proposed as a potential method to alleviate symptoms of motion sickness, its efficacy remains to be rigorously validated, especially in maritime environments. In this study, we develop an AI–driven brain–computer interface (BCI) to realize sustained and practical attention shift by incorporating tasks such as breath counting. Forty-three participants completed a real–world nautical experiment consisting of a real–feedback session, a resting session, and a pseudo–feedback session. Notably, 81.39% of the participants reported that the BCI intervention was effective. EEG analysis revealed that the proposed approach was associated with significant changes in EEG signatures linked to motion sickness, including a decrease in total band power, along with a decrease in theta relative power and an increase in beta relative power. Furthermore, an indicator of attentional focus, the theta/beta ratio, exhibited a significant reduction during the real–feedback session, providing additional support for the potential of the BCI to facilitate attention shifting. Collectively, this study presents a novel nonpharmacological, portable, and promising approach for seasickness intervention, which has the potential to open up a brand–new application domain for BCIs.