ABSTRACT
If perceptual fidelity is to serve as a foundation for the design of vehicle simulators and other virtual environments, then the designer needs to be provided with the appropriate design methodology. This chapter outlines the methodology for the design and evaluation for virtual environments when perceptual fidelity is chosen as the primary design goal. The design process is outlined in detail in the beginning with the definition of tasks required of the device and the decomposition of individual operator tasks into task elements and perceptual cues. The process of weighing the relative contribution of these cues to individual tasks is then described as is the means by which the perceptual fidelity index is formulated. In the section on evaluation, comparative analyses between performance in the device and in the real world are described by stressing the importance of the requirement of a strong correspondence between the two.
