THE EVALUATION OF A MOTION BASE DRIVING SIMULATOR IN A CAVE AT TACOM

The purpose of this presentation is to describe the highlights of a research program designed to investigate the feasibility of creating a motion base driving simulator in a Cave Automatic Virtual Environment (CAVE). The goal of the project was to create the most effective simulator possible using a compact, portable motion system. In addition to reviews of state-of-the-art simulation technology, two human factors studies were conducted to determine the impacts of design trade-offs on off-road driving performance in the simulator. In the first study, field of view (FOV), display system, and motion cueing algorithm were evaluated. In the second study, the optimum configuration from the first study was compared to off-road driving performance in TACOM's Ride Motion Simulator (RMS). In addition to performance evaluation, several simulator sickness mitigation techniques were also tested. The important findings from each of these evaluations will be discussed.