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 several 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 base 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.