Comparison of human driver dynamics in simulators with complex and simple visual displays and in an automobile on the road

As part of a comprehensive program exploring driver/vehicle system response in lateral steering tasks, driver/vehicle system describing functions and other dynamic data have been gathered in seferal milieu. These include a simple fixed-base simulator with an elementary roadway delineation-only display; a fixed-base statically operating automobile with a terrain-model-based, wide angle projection system display; and a full-scale moving-base automobile operating on the road. Dynamic data with the two fixed-based simulators compared favorably, implying that the impoverished visual scene, lack of engine noise, and simplified steering wheel feel characteristics in the simple simulator did not induce significant driver dynamic behavior variations. The fixed-base vs. moving-base comparisons showed substantially greater crossover frequencies and phase margins on the road course, which can be ascribed primarily to a decrease in the driver's effective latency for the moving base. When considered with previous data, the moving-base full-scale vs. fixed-base simulator differences are ascribed primarily to the motion cues present on the road course rather than to any visual field differences.