ABSTRACT
Computer-based simulation is widely used in human factors and applied psychology research as a controlled and cost-effective means of investigating people’s interactions with technology. In safety-critical contexts such as driving, simulation also offers the fundamental advantage that research questions can be addressed in an environment in which the participant(s), the research team and other road users experience no objective risk. Such benefits, together with reductions in hardware and software costs, have led to a number of research groups developing interactive driving simulator facilities. For instance, within the UK there are now a large number of teams which possess driving simulators of varying levels of fidelity, ranging from those with single computer screens and game controller configurations, through to real car cabins with multiple projections and motion systems.
