Abstract
This pilot study aims to find a way to measure ‘presence’ as a proxy for ecological validity in driving simulators. The underlying assumption is that a person experiencing a strong sense of presence in the virtual environment will react as if it were real. We measure ‘presence’ through the ‘attention’ given to the driving task. We hypothesize that the greater the attention given to the primary driving task, the more the subject will experience spatial presence. ‘Attention’ was varied by adding a second task and oncoming traffic; we then analyzed behavioral measures of driving performance and subjective ‘presence’. The main result is a lack of congruence between subjective and behavioral measures. Although behavioral differences were observed between the various experimental conditions, there was no significant difference in subjective measures of presence. One explanation for this result could be that in all experimental conditions the driving activity did not require high-level cognitive processes, and was instead based on bottom-up attentional processes. Many of the processes involved in driving seem to be automatic, and this study argues for the concomitant use of subjective measures (such as questionnaires) and objective measures to assess presence in driving simulators. Furthermore, the development of a sensitive measure of presence seems to require more challenging scenarios in terms of controlled attention, cognitive involvement and more specifically, the emotions induced by the media. Participants are clearly aware that they are not exposed to any physical danger when using the simulator and the problem of their motivation must be taken into consideration. Another major problem is to establish the extent to which they are absorbed in the simulated driving task. A significant challenge for future research is the emotional validity of driving.
Highlights
Driving simulation began in the 1960s, when it was used to train specific target audiences such as novice drivers, law enforcement officers and truck drivers [1]
Our results suggest that subjective measurements based on questionnaires fail to report significant behavioral effects
This was observed in the dual task condition involving the unconscious aspects of the attentional dimension
Summary
Driving simulation began in the 1960s, when it was used to train specific target audiences such as novice drivers, law enforcement officers and truck drivers [1]. Like flying, driving is a dynamic task that involves a set of rapid control maneuvers and critical feedback in order to avoid obstacles and prevent crashes [19]. There is no evidence that motion-based simulators are more efficient than fixed-base simulators for training commercial pilots [7]. This highlights the stark contrast between driving simulation and civil aviation flight simulation; compared to an airline pilot, the driver needs a higher degree of motion simulation. The higher complexity inherent in the driving task probably explains why flight simulators are widely used for pilot training, while driving simulators are not widely used for driver training [31]
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