The fun of engineering: a motion seat in a driving simulator

This study evaluates the use of a motion seat in a fixed-base driving simulator. Sixty subjects with driving experience participated in a braking experiment and a cornering experiment in a between-subjects design. In the braking experiment, motion seat cueing versus motion turned off was evaluated. In the cornering experiment, we evaluated motion cueing according to the engineering way, according to the ‘fun’ way, and motion turned off. When driving under the engineering way condition, the driver’s body is tilted outward in the corners, to simulate the forces acting on the body during driving in a qualitatively correct fashion. The fun way tilts the body in the opposite direction, into the corner, as is done in many amusement rides. As hypothesized, results of the braking experiment showed that the motion seat resulted in smaller vehicle decelerations, more consistent stopping positions at a stop line, and smoother braking onset as compared to motion off. Results of the cornering experiment did not show any significant differences in driving performance between the three conditions. Results of a questionnaire showed that subjects rated fun cueing as more realistic/satisfactory than motion off. Individual differences were large compared to the effects of the motion seat. Future research could evaluate whether the motion seat improves driver training results.