Visuele informatie in rijsimulatoren: koershouden op een rechte weg [Visual information in vehicle simulators: lateral control on a straight road]
report
The Royal Netherlands Army has an increasing need for advice concerning the visual information needed by a driver in a driving simulator in order to perform perceptual-motor parts of the driving task. This knowledge can be used to formulate the CGI-requirements in such a way that the cost-benefit ratio can be improved. In this connection the research project 'Visual information in vehicle simulators' is carried out. The currative study investigates the visual information the driver uses while driving on a straight road.
First, a theorethical analysis describes the driver's perception of the static (position, orientation) and dynamic (translation, rotation) state of his vehicle from the visual information in the simulator's CGI. Then, in an experiment the infor-mation on the lateral position, lateral translation and rotation of the vehicle was manipulated and the effect on the driving behaviour of experienced and inexperi-enced drivers was measured. The manipulations consisted of the partial removal of the edge lines, intermitting the edge lines, or the addition of a great number of objects in the environment. In order to force inexperienced drivers to employ an 'experienced' viewing strategy, the effect of a fixation mark on the road's vanishing point at the horizon was investigated. The results show that the visual information the drivers use to control their vehicle is motion parallax generated by lateral translations. The visual effects of the rotation of the vehicle are likely to be compensated by an eye rotation in the opposite direction. Inexperienced drivers can be forced to compensate the visual effects of a vehicle rotation by the fixation mark at the vanishing point of the road. In normal driving situations, vestibular information generates reflexive eye rotations that compensate for the vehicle rotations. In a fixed-base driving simulator the vesibular information on vehicle rotation is absent and no compensatory reflexes are generated. By active fixation on the vanishing point of the road the driver is able to reduce the lack of vestibular information in a fixed-base driving simulator.
Compared with experienced drivers, the inexperienced drivers are less able to perceive their lateral position and lateral speed in the proximal part of the edge lines. In order to improve the simulated environments by which inexperienced drivers can train in the use of this proximal informaal information several possible visual environments are mentioned.
First, a theorethical analysis describes the driver's perception of the static (position, orientation) and dynamic (translation, rotation) state of his vehicle from the visual information in the simulator's CGI. Then, in an experiment the infor-mation on the lateral position, lateral translation and rotation of the vehicle was manipulated and the effect on the driving behaviour of experienced and inexperi-enced drivers was measured. The manipulations consisted of the partial removal of the edge lines, intermitting the edge lines, or the addition of a great number of objects in the environment. In order to force inexperienced drivers to employ an 'experienced' viewing strategy, the effect of a fixation mark on the road's vanishing point at the horizon was investigated. The results show that the visual information the drivers use to control their vehicle is motion parallax generated by lateral translations. The visual effects of the rotation of the vehicle are likely to be compensated by an eye rotation in the opposite direction. Inexperienced drivers can be forced to compensate the visual effects of a vehicle rotation by the fixation mark at the vanishing point of the road. In normal driving situations, vestibular information generates reflexive eye rotations that compensate for the vehicle rotations. In a fixed-base driving simulator the vesibular information on vehicle rotation is absent and no compensatory reflexes are generated. By active fixation on the vanishing point of the road the driver is able to reduce the lack of vestibular information in a fixed-base driving simulator.
Compared with experienced drivers, the inexperienced drivers are less able to perceive their lateral position and lateral speed in the proximal part of the edge lines. In order to improve the simulated environments by which inexperienced drivers can train in the use of this proximal informaal information several possible visual environments are mentioned.
Topics
TNO Identifier
8117
Publisher
TNO
Place of publication
Soesterberg
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