U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20590
202-366-4000
Federal Highway Administration Research and Technology
Coordinating, Developing, and Delivering Highway Transportation Innovations
| SUMMARY REPORT |
| This summary report is an archived publication and may contain dated technical, contact, and link information |
|
 |
| Publication Number: FHWA-HRT-15-016 Date: March 2015 |
Publication Number: FHWA-HRT-15-016 Date: March 2015 |
The full final report of this project, Making Driving Simulators More Useful for Behavioral Research—Simulator Characteristics Comparison and Model-Based Transformation (October 2013), is available at: www.nads-sc.uiowa.edu/publicationStorage/20131399331159.N2013-016_Making%20driving%20simul.pdf.
The full report also includes the following additional information:
The researchers surveyed organizations that operate driving simulators to identify a full range of characteristics, capabilities, and limitations found in a representative sample of driving simulators. The survey evaluated a range of simulators from desktop to full-vehicle simulators using a variety of displays and controls.
The survey included a brief, informal literature review to ascertain the state of the technology and current practices in driving simulation. The researchers subsequently developed a survey of simulator characteristics based on the results of the review and input from subject matter experts in the field of driving simulation.
The full report provides a high-level description for each of the simulators included in the survey. These descriptions provide a broad overview of the distinguishing characteristics of each simulator system. Features listed include type of cab, visual display characteristics, motion and haptic capabilities, and audio capabilities.
The full report includes a summary of the primary characteristics of the driving simulators. This is intended to provide a basis for comparing the features that are likely to be most important to the goals of the project. A table lists characteristics that are related to dimensions of fidelity that will likely affect driver performance.
The researchers made measurements of the visual, motion, vibration, haptics, tactile, and sound cues in each of the four simulators. They included specific measurements in the final report to assure that it can accurately quantify the degree to which a simulator satisfies the simulator perceptual-control requirements.
The full report includes a copy of the motion sickness screening form and motion sickness and simulator realism questionnaires provided to participants.
For more information on this project, contact Brian Philips at FHWA, 202-493-3468 (email: brian.philips@dot.gov).
