title: Can We Study Autonomous Driving Comfort in Moving-Base Driving Simulators? A Validation Study.
abstract: To lay the basis of studying autonomous driving comfort using driving simulators, we assessed the behavioral validity of two moving-base simulator configurations by contrasting them with a test-track setting.
  
  
  
  With increasing level of automation, driving comfort becomes increasingly important. Simulators provide a safe environment to study perceived comfort in autonomous driving. To date, however, no studies were conducted in relation to comfort in autonomous driving to determine the extent to which results from simulator studies can be transferred to on-road driving conditions.
  
  
  
  Participants ( N = 72) experienced six differently parameterized lane-change and deceleration maneuvers and subsequently rated the comfort of each scenario. One group of participants experienced the maneuvers on a test-track setting, whereas two other groups experienced them in one of two moving-base simulator configurations.
  
  
  
  We could demonstrate relative and absolute validity for one of the two simulator configurations. Subsequent analyses revealed that the validity of the simulator highly depends on the parameterization of the motion system.
  
  
  
  Moving-base simulation can be a useful research tool to study driving comfort in autonomous vehicles. However, our results point at a preference for subunity scaling factors for both lateral and longitudinal motion cues, which might be explained by an underestimation of speed in virtual environments.
  
  
  
  In line with previous studies, we recommend lateral- and longitudinal-motion scaling factors of approximately 50% to 60% in order to obtain valid results for both active and passive driving tasks.
authors.forename: Hanna
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bellem
authors.forename: Malte
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Klüver
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schrauf
authors.affiliation: Daimler AG, Sindelfingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Hans-Peter
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Schöner
authors.affiliation: Johannes Gutenberg-University, Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: Heiko
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hecht
authors.affiliation: Technische Universität Chemnitz, Chemnitz, Germany.
authors.forename: Josef F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Krems
mesh_terms: D000054:Acceleration; D000328:Adult; D001331:Automation / Q000295:instrumentation*; D001334:Automobile Driving; D003198:Computer Simulation; D004867:Equipment Design; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012107:Research Design; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: autonomous driving; behavioral validity; driving simulation; immersive environments; multisensory integration; trust in automation; usability/acceptance measurement and research; vehicle automation; vehicle design; virtual environments; visual-vestibular integration