Motion fidelity and intelligent vehicles in driving simulation

Andras Kemeny (*, +)
Technical Centre for Simulation, Renault *
Laboratory of Physiology of Perception and Action, CNRS - College de France +


After flight training simulation, the 1980's have seen the emergence of 
high-fidelity ground vehicle simulation [1] for driver training, human 
factors experiments or vehicle design. Automobile driving implies a closer 
interaction with the environment (with the ground but also with the 
surrounding traffic) than flight simulators require. The realism of the 
simulated visual, kinaesthetic as well as audio environment depends strongly 
on the rendering fidelity of vehicle movements [2] and on that of the 
surrounding environment.

Recent studies carried out on a truck-training simulator [3] in the framework 
of a European project (TRaCS EU1238) allow us to better understand the nature 
of the interaction between the driven vehicle and the surrounding traffic. The 
question was: What is the perception and the acceptation of a driver of an 
automatic Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC*) car following driver aid system? 
Surprisingly, the Time Head Way (THW), was chosen by the drivers in simulator 
experiments using ACC was significantly smaller than during unaided driving. 
This result is yet to be confirmed by studies on real trucks.

Meanwhile a general question of simulation fidelity arises. If the realism of 
the surrounding virtual traffic was good enough, thanks to the SCANeR(c) II 
simulation software provided by Renault, was the overall Virtual Environment (VE) 
fidelity level good enough too? If not, one could attribute the larger 
interactive driving THW values to the incertitude of the drivers regarding the 
dynamic behaviour of their vehicle with respect to the cars they followed. 
Through this example, the crucial role of the level of simulation fidelity for 
driving applications in the research fields of scientific, economical or 
social importance will be analysed.

*ACC is a radar- or lidar-based automatic car following system implemented on 
certain vehicles nowadays, and its future evolutions require more 
understanding about the perception of car following safety distances in 
everyday drivers, which are be carried out efficiently using driving simulators.


References:

1 Kemeny, A., Panerai, F. (2003). " Evaluating Perception in driving 
simulation experiments ".Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 7(1), pp.31-37. 

2 Reymond G, Droulez J, Kemeny A (2002). " Visuo-vestibular perception of 
self-motion modeled as a dynamic optimization process ". Biological 
Cybernetics, 87(4), pp.301-14.

3 Panerai F., Droulez J., Kelada J-M., Kemeny A., Balligand E., Favre B.(2001).
"Speed and safety distance control in truck driving : comparison of 
simulation and real-world environment ". 
Proceedings of the Driving Simulation Conference, Sophia Antipolis, 
September 2001, pp 91-107.