The Barany chair or Bárány chair is a device used for aerospace physiology training, particularly for student

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

Test

The subject is placed in the

swivel chair A swivel, swivelling, spinny, or revolving chair is a chair with a single central leg that allows the seat to rotate 360 degrees to the left or right. A concept of a rotating chair with swivel castors was illustrated by the Nuremberg noble Mart ...

, blindfolded, then spun about the

vertical axis In geometry, a Cartesian coordinate system (, ) in a plane is a coordinate system that specifies each point uniquely by a pair of real numbers called ''coordinates'', which are the signed distances to the point from two fixed perpendicular o ...

while keeping their head upright or tilted forward or to the side. The subject is then asked to perform tasks such as determine their direction of rotation while blindfolded, or rapidly change the orientation of their head, or attempt to point at a stationary object without blindfold after the chair is stopped. The chair is used to demonstrate

spatial disorientation Spatial disorientation is the inability to determine position or relative motion, commonly occurring during periods of challenging visibility, since visual system, vision is the dominant sense for orientation. The auditory system, vestibular system ...

effects, proving that the

vestibular system The vestibular system, in vertebrates, is a sensory system that creates the sense of balance and spatial orientation for the purpose of coordinating motor coordination, movement with balance. Together with the cochlea, a part of the auditory sys ...

is not to be trusted in flight. Pilots are taught that they should instead rely on their

flight instruments Flight instruments are the instruments in the cockpit of an aircraft that provide the pilot with data about the flight situation of that aircraft, such as altitude, airspeed, vertical speed, heading and much more other crucial information in f ...

Uses

The device is also used in

motion sickness Motion sickness occurs due to a difference between actual and expected motion. Symptoms commonly include nausea, vomiting, cold sweat, headache, dizziness, tiredness, loss of appetite, and increased salivation. Complications may rarely include ...

therapy.

Nobel Prize

The chair was named for Hungarian physiologist

Robert Bárány Robert Bárány (, ; 22 April 1876 – 8 April 1936) was an Austrian-born otologist. He received the 1914 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on the physiology and pathology of the vestibular apparatus. Life and career Bárán ...

, who used this device in his research into the role of the

inner ear The inner ear (internal ear, auris interna) is the innermost part of the vertebrate ear. In vertebrates, the inner ear is mainly responsible for sound detection and balance. In mammals, it consists of the bony labyrinth, a hollow cavity in the ...

in the sense of balance. He won the 1914

Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine () is awarded yearly by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute for outstanding discoveries in physiology or medicine. The Nobel Prize is not a single prize, but five separate prizes that, acco ...

"for his work on the physiology and pathology of the vestibular apparatus".

References

Aviation educators Flight training Medical equipment Motion sickness {{Treatment-stub

Test

Uses

Nobel Prize

See also

References