H. Kimura, M. Endo, M. Koseki, and N. Inou (Japan)
sleep inducing factors, mechanical environment, vibration of train
A phenomenon that passengers are getting sleepy is often found in running cars or trains. If a mechanism can reproduce this phenomenon, it is feasible to put insomnia patients or infants to sleep without any harmful effects. This will bring extreme benefit for insomnia patients or parents of babies. The purpose of this study is to elucidate the sleep-inducing factors of running cars or trains, and the final goal is to develop a machine which reproduces the environment to put people to sleep. For the first step of this study, we investigated the relationship between sleepiness and vibrations on several trains. The sleepability of each train is discussed by the ratio of sleeping people. After vibration analyses, the results suggest that comfortable vibration for sleep has mainly low-frequency (~2Hz) vibration with particular fluctuation. Small jerks also contribute the sleepability.
Important Links:
Go Back
