The effect of driving simulator feature fidelity on vehicle control, driver workload and muscle activation

Driving simulators offer a controlled, repeatable environment for experiments. High-fidelity features that closely imitate real-world driving are often more expensive, but it is unclear if high-fidelity features are necessary to produce results that are generalizable to real-world driving. This within-subjects study investigated the effects of higher and lower fidelity features for three simulator subsystems: display, motion, and vehicle controls. Lateral and longitudinal driving measures, subjective workload ratings (NASA rTLX) and upper-body muscle activation were assessed. Differences in driver control were found between lower and higher fidelity controls and displays. Participants reported lower workload scores with higher display fidelity and increased effort in the higher fidelity motion condition. Differences in muscle activation were present for at least one muscle between the visual, physical control and motion fidelities. The results can be used to guide simulator feature selection with the results suggesting that active force feedback controls may be a critical investment.