The science behind these magic dots is sound, and addresses the motion sickness felt when staring at a static display while the inner ear feels the car turning, braking, and accelerating. Motion Assist taps into your device’s accelerometer and gyroscope to place dots around the periphery of the display that move in harmony with the motion of the car. When the car turns right, the dots sweep across the screen to the left; when the car brakes, the dots slide forward.
I’m here to tell you that this tech really works. As an avid vanlifer, I’m often working on my MacBook and iPhone from the passenger seat while we drive to the next destination. But that’s only possible by activating the anti-nausea feature, otherwise I can’t stomach it. My wife is a convert, too.
Google lets you set the opacity of the motion indicators and choose from a variety of shapes and colors. The feature can be configured to turn on automatically when it detects a moving vehicle, or it can be quickly toggled through a tile in your Quick Settings.
The feature hasn’t arrived yet on a pair of Pixel devices we tested. But if you’re lucky, you’ll find Motion Assist in your Google Settings under Your Profile and All Services.