Laura Shaughnessy is the former managing editor at Dockwalk.
The best inventions are those that fill a market need, and seasickness certainly qualifies. See-LEVEL’s newly launched portable VR headset relieves seasickness in 12 minutes with reportedly no side effects.
“See-LEVEL Limited was founded in 2018, with prototypes built in 2019 and extensive testing during 2020/21 on multiple volunteers and vessels from icebreakers to power catamarans, commercial vessels, and tall sailing ships,” says Dudley Jackson, Director, See-LEVEL.
Following the three-year period working on the project with government and private backing, plus lots of research and learning, they released See-LEVEL, a non-medical device, in 2021. Some of their adopters were M/Y Duchessa, M/Y Amara, as well as selected defense forces, pilot boats, offshore crew transfer vessels, and more, all offering great feedback, according to Jackson.
According to See-LEVEL, one in four people suffer from seasickness, which stems from vessel factors like roll, heave, vessel design, and sea state, as well as from environmental factors like temperature, smells, and your location on board.
See-LEVEL’s virtual reality headset solves these problems by providing a 100 percent steady and immersive 360° VR scene, calming the brain and eliminating seasickness symptoms. Once nausea symptoms have cleared, people can remove the headset and go back to their normal activities. See-LEVEL has about an 80 percent success rate. The battery lasts about three hours of continuous usage and a full charge takes up to two hours.
In 2020, they commissioned research to assess how effective See-LEVEL was at reducing seasickness. For nausea relief, on a scale of one (normal) to five (vomiting), nausea dropped from 4 to 1.56, on average.
See-LEVEL’s newly launched portable VR headset relieves seasickness in 12 minutes with reportedly no side effects.
There are several versions, including the Yacht Edition, available as a beta version to early adopter clients (research is continuing on habituation, which is a patented breakthrough), proven and tested Defense Forces Version, (available now through SPI Marine and Defense), and the currently available Companion Edition.
Although See-LEVEL can also be used in cars and planes, they’re focused in on superyachts and commercial vessels, crew transfer vessels, and defense force applications. “We have had to narrow down our focus to a few selected markets that See-LEVEL has found a sweet spot in,” Jackson says. You can even customize your equipment and brand your vessel name on the headset, case, and internal graphics.