Darth Vader TomTom
Darth Vader will keep your children happy. IBTimes UK

Groundbreaking research conducted by TomTom into child psychology has revealed that the voice of Darth Vader dramatically increases children's happiness during car journeys.

After working with more than 300 babies and toddlers over a six month period as part of 'Project GAGA', the satellite navigation company found that the Star Wars character increased overall happiness in the car by more than 68 percent.

TomTom's vice president of product management, Walter Hermsen, said: "Everything we do is about making journeys better. When we found that for 97 percent of parents, 'crying and unhappy children' is the single biggest source of disturbance in the car, we knew we had to find a solution and Project GAGA was launched."

Testing children aged between six months and two years, TomTom found Darth Vader to be the most well-received, beating 25 other Satnav voices, including Homer Simpson, Bugs Bunny and Yoda.

The company said in a press release: "Children responded most positively to Darth Vader's breathy tones, while Yoda's voice reduced many babies to tears."

Herman continued: "Our customers have been telling is for years that their TomTom navigation voice feels like part of the family. Now, it would seem that every family car should have Darth Vader on board to cheer up children and parents alike."

Darth Vader for TomTom mixes driving directions with a variety of famous phrases from the films, such as "Turn around when possible, I find your lack of faith disturbing, then take the third left, sense your way."

TomTom offers a wide range of celebrity voices for its navigation systems, from the likes of John Cleese and Stephen Fry, to a whole host of Simpsons and Star Wars characters, but it was the Dark Lord of The Sith that was the children's favourite.