Steering Control in a Low-Cost Driving Simulator: A Case for the Role of Virtual Vehicle Cab:

Objective:The aim of this study was to investigate steering control in a low-cost driving simulator with and without a virtual vehicle cab.Background:In low-cost simulators, the lack of a vehicle cab denies driver access to vehicle width, which could affect steering control, insofar as locomotor adjustments are known to be based on action-scaled visual judgments of the environment.Method:Two experiments were conducted in which steering control with and without a virtual vehicle cab was investigated in a within-subject design, using cornering and straight-lane-keeping tasks.Results:Driving around curves without vehicle cab information made drivers deviate more from the lane center toward the inner edge in right (virtual cab = 4 ± 19 cm; no cab = 42 ± 28 cm; at the apex of the curve, p < .001) but not in left curves. More lateral deviation from the lane center toward the edge line was also found in driving without the virtual cab on straight roads (virtual cab = 21 ± 28 cm; no cab = 36 ± 27 cm; p < .001), w...