Open AccessAssessing the contribution of active somatosensory stimulation to self-acceleration perception in dynamic driving simulators
Author(s) -
Mattia Bruschetta,
Ksander N. de Winkel,
Enrico Mion,
Paolo Pretto,
Alessandro Beghi,
Heinrich H. Bülthoff
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0259015
Subject(s) - somatosensory system , perception , driving simulator , simulation , acceleration , fidelity , computer science , sensory system , rendering (computer graphics) , stimulation , psychology , artificial intelligence , cognitive psychology , neuroscience , physics , telecommunications , classical mechanics
In dynamic driving simulators, the experience of operating a vehicle is reproduced by combining visual stimuli generated by graphical rendering with inertial stimuli generated by platform motion. Due to inherent limitations of the platform workspace, inertial stimulation is subject to shortcomings in the form of missing cues, false cues, and/or scaling errors, which negatively affect simulation fidelity. In the present study, we aim at quantifying the relative contribution of an active somatosensory stimulation to the perceived intensity of self-motion, relative to other sensory systems. Participants judged the intensity of longitudinal and lateral driving maneuvers in a dynamic driving simulator in passive driving conditions, with and without additional active somatosensory stimulation, as provided by an Active Seat (AS) and Active Belts (AB) integrated system (ASB). The results show that ASB enhances the perceived intensity of sustained decelerations, and increases the precision of acceleration perception overall. Our findings are consistent with models of perception, and indicate that active somatosensory stimulation can indeed be used to improve simulation fidelity.