Classification of driving simulators validation: A case study using an immersive driving simulator

Abstract

Driving simulators present themselves as tools of high potential for the study of human behavior during the driving task, given their importance in the occurrence of traffic accidents. The use of driving simulators is still on the rise, with the increased number of low-cost desktop-based driving simulations, primarily motivated by research in the intersection of vehicle automation and human factors. However, it is necessary to ensure that the simulators correctly represent the driving task, which is done through the validation process and has been particularly rare in recent years. In this sense, the objective of the present work is to support the validation efforts of low-cost driving simulators in two ways: (i) by proposing a study configuration categorization to guide validation studies and (ii) by presenting the validation of an immersive driving simulation based on the proposed classification. Considering the former, an extensive literature review of existing validation studies was conducted to support this classification’s development. Regarding the latter, data from the same scenario in the real world and in the virtual environment were collected and analyzed. The study also evaluated the occurrence of simulator sickness and the perception of realism in the simulated scenario, which are important elements in the context of low-cost driving simulators. The results show relative validation for the particular simulator analyzed, as well as the relevance of virtual reality for constructing an immersive environment, despite a slight increase in some symptoms of simulator sickness. Although such validation studies apply to a specific context, they broaden the overall reliability of research on driving simulators.