Vibrations in dynamic driving simulator: Study and implementation

This paper shows the effect of adding vibrations in a car cabin during driving simulation on driver perception. Actually, current dynamic driving simulators induce the simulator sickness and it still difficult for the driver to project himself in the virtual reality due to a lack of perception. To know the effect of vibrations on a subject, the effect of the whole body vibration must be defined, as the sources of vibration in a car cabin. After determining all the parameters we propose to determine a formula to produce the vibrations in function of the car state, the road and the boundary conditions. Then experimentation with nine subjects is done to define the exact effect of the vibrations and the new perception of the road in the simulation. In order to do these experimentations, three actuators were installed inside the cabin of the car driving simulator from Institut Image – Arts et Metiers ParisTech

The contribution of closed loop tracking control of motion platform on laterally induced postural instability of the drivers at SAAM dynamic simulator

This paper explains the effect of a motion platform closed loop control comparing to the static condition for driving simulators on postural instability. The postural instabilities of the participants (N=18, 15 male and 3 female subjects) were measured as lateral displacements of subject body centre of pressure (YCP ) just before and after each driving session via a balance platform. After having completed the experiments, the two-tailed Mann-Whitney U test was applied to analyze the objective data for merely the post-exposure cases. The objective data analysis revealed that the YCP for the dynamic case indicated a significant lower value than the static situation (U(18), p < 0,0001). It can be concluded that the closed loop tracking control of the hexapod platform of the driving simulator (dynamic platform condition) decreased significantly the lateral postural stability compared to the static operation condition. However the two-tailed Mann-Whitney U test showed that no significant difference was obtained between the two conditions in terms of psychophysical perception

Motion sickness evaluation and comparison for a static driving simulator and a dynamic driving simulator

This paper deals with driving simulation and in particular with the important issue of motion sickness. The paper proposes a methodology to evaluate the objective illness rating metrics deduced from the motion sickness dose value and questionnaires for both a static simulator and a dynamic simulator. Accelerations of the vestibular cues (head movements) of the subjects were recorded with and without motion platform activation. In order to compare user experiences in both cases, the head-dynamics-related illness ratings were computed from the obtained accelerations and the motion sickness dose values. For the subjective analysis, the principal component analysis method was used to determine the conflict between the subjective assessment in the static condition and that in the dynamic condition. The principal component analysis method used for the subjective evaluation showed a consistent difference between the answers given in the sickness questionnaire for the static platform case from those for the dynamic platform case. The two-tailed Mann–Whitney U test shows the significance in the differences between the self-reports to the individual questions. According to the two-tailed Mann–Whitney U test, experiencing nausea (p = 0.019 < 0.05) and dizziness (p = 0.018 < 0.05) decreased significantly from the static case to the dynamic case. Also, eye strain (p = 0.047 < 0.05) and tiredness (p = 0.047 < 0.05) were reduced significantly from the static case to the dynamic case. For the perception fidelity analysis, the Pearson correlation with a confidence interval of 95% was used to study the correlations of each question with the x illness rating component IRx, the y illness rating component IRy, the z illness rating component IRz and the compound illness rating IRtot. The results showed that the longitudinal head dynamics were the main element that induced discomfort for the static platform, whereas vertical head movements were the main factor to provoke discomfort for the dynamic platform case. Also, for the dynamic platform, lateral vestibular-level dynamics were the major element which caused a feeling of fear

Impact of geometric field of view on speed perception

This paper deals with changes of the geometric field of view on speed perception. This study has been carried out using the SAAM dynamic driving simulator (Arts et Métiers ParisTech). SAAM provides motion cues thanks to a 6 DOF electromechanical platform and is equipped with a cylindrical screen of 150°. 20 subjects have reproduced 2 speeds (50 km/h and 90 km/h) without knowing the numerical values of these consigns, and with 5 different visual scale factors: 0.70, 0.85, 1.00, 1.15 and 1.30. This visual scale factor correspond to the ratio between the driver’s field of view covered by the screen (constant) and the geometric field of view. This study shows that this visual scale factor has a significant impact on the speed reached by the subjects and thus shows that perceived speed increases with this visual scale factor. A 0.15 modification of this factor is enough to obtain a significant effect. The modification of the geometric field of view remained unnoticed by all the subjects, which implies that this technique can be easily used to make drivers reduce their speed in driving simulation conditions. However, this technique may also modify perception of distances.Cet article présente l’effet du changement du champ de vision géométrique sur la perception de la vitesse. Cette étude a été réalisée sur le simulateur de conduite dynamique SAAM (Arts et Métiers ParisTech). SAAM utilise une plate-forme électromécanique à 6 DDL et est équipé d’un écran cylindrique de 150° pour restituer la sensation de mouvement. 20 sujets ont reproduit 2 vitesses (50 km/h et 90 km/h), sans connaître les valeurs de ces vitesses, et avec 5 facteurs d’échelle visuelle différents : 0.70, 0.85, 1.00, 1.15 et 1.30. Ces facteurs d’échelle correspondent aux rapports entre le champ de vision du conducteur couvert par l’image (constant) et le champ de vision géométrique. Cette étude montre que ce changement visuel a un impact significatif sur la vitesse qu’atteignent les sujets et montre donc que la vitesse perçue augmente avec ce facteur d’échelle visuelle. Un changement de 0.15 de ce facteur suffit pour obtenir un effet significatif. Les changements de champ de vision géométrique n’ont été détectés par aucun des sujets, ce qui implique que cette technique peut facilement être utilisée pour amener les conducteurs à réduire leur vitesse en conditions de simulation de conduite. Cependant, cette technique pourrait aussi modifier la perception des distances.Le Grand Chalo

A simulation sickness study on a driving simulator equipped with a vibration platform

Simulator sickness is a well-known side effect of driving simulation which may reduce the passenger well-being and performance due to its various symptoms, from pallor to vomiting. Numerous reducing countermeasures have been previously tested; however, they often have undesirable side effects. The present study investigated the possible effect of seat vibrations on simulator sickness. Three configurations were tested: no vibrations, realistic ones and some that might affect the proprioception. Twenty-nine participants were exposed to the three configurations on a four-minute long automated driving in a simulator equipped with a vibration platform. Simulator sickness was estimated thanks to the Simulator Sickness Questionnaire (SSQ) and to a postural instability measure. Results showed that vibrations help to reduce the sickness. Our findings demonstrate that some specific vibration configurations may have a positive impact on the sickness, thus confirming the usefulness of devices reproducing the road vibrations in addition to creating more immersion for the driver

Effect of simulated rumble strips in static driving simulator - a pre-study

In this article, we present an experiment whose goal is to show the impact of adding transverse rumble strips on the driver’s behavior. Actually rumble strips are used to increase the security on dangerous crossroad. To do this we developed a system that allows reproducing rumble strips in simulation using vibrations. The system is mounted on a dynamic driving simulator and the simulation is made with ScanerStudio

Effect of Closed-Loop Motion Cueing Algorithm for a Six-Degrees-of-Freedom Dynamic Simulator on Pupil Diameter as a Driver Stress Factor

This paper describes the contribution of the closed-loop control of the motion platform (six degrees of freedom: longitudinal, lateral, and vertical displacements; pitch, roll, yaw) and motion platform’s three-dimensional (3D) displacement scale factor (SF) (0.2 and 1.0) on eye pupil diameter (PD) as an objective measure of driver cognitive load. Longitudinal, lateral, and vertical accelerations as well as longitudinal, lateral, and vertical positions from the center of gravity (CG) of the vehicle were registered through the driving simulation software SCANeRstudio® from OKTAL. Closed-loop control decreases the driver mental load. This type of closed-loop control can be used to decrease the driver mental load

Study of latency gap corrections in a dynamic driving simulator

Simulator sickness is a well-known side effect of driving simulation which may reduce the passenger well-being and performance due to its various symptoms. The present study investigated the possible effect of the latency gap correction on simulator sickness. Indeed, dynamic simulators can have different delays in their motion and visual systems (the latency gap), which may cause motion sickness. For now twenty-four participants have done two automated driving sessions in a driving simulator, with and without the correction. Simulator sickness has been estimated thanks to the Simulator Sickness Questionnaire (SSQ)

Effect of proprioceptive vibrations on simulator sickness during navigation task in virtual environment

In virtual reality the navigation task can generate motion sickness also called simulator sickness or cyber-sickness. This in mainly due to the lack of sensory feedbacks during the task. The presented work aims at studying proprioceptive vibrations for improving the navigation task, decreasing simulator sickness and improving the sense of presence. In this study, proprioceptive vibrations are used to stimulate the lower gluteus maximus muscles during the avatar displacement in the virtual world. The experiment shows the impact of proprioceptive vibrations on navigation task

Effect of footstep vibrations and proprioceptive vibrations used with an innovative navigation method

This study proposes to investigate the effect of adding vibration feedback to a navigation task in virtual environment. Previous study used footstep vibrations and proprioceptive vibrations in order to decrease the cyber-sickness and increase the sense of presence. In this study, we experiment the same vibration modalities but with a new navigation method. The results show that proprioceptive vibrations do not impact the sense of presence neither the cyber-sickness while footstep vibrations increase sense of presence and decrease in a certain way cyber-sickness.Burgundy region through the JCE funding projec