The use of synthetic test and research platforms is becoming more prevalent in the effort to capture a better understanding of critical vehicle and traffic safety issues as well as analyse and clarify high probability data. In the area of traffic safety, driving simulators have become the ultimate synthetic human factors research platform. These simulators expand the ability of researchers to explore issues that to date could only be safely studied from raw data interpretation or anecdotal observation and review. As a human factors research platform, realistic driving simulators must mimic and present accurate stimuli to the driver, which influence the dominant or effected human sensory organs. Driving a vehicle presents a "cue hungry" environment. The absence of critical or expected cues influences driver behaviour. The importance of providing accurate auditory cues is possibly one of the most subtle, yet critical, and often overlooked prerequisites to achieving realistic immersion in a simulated driving environment. Accurate sound replication includes critical placement of speakers, speaker design, frequency response, appropriate and safe sound pressure levels all leading to creation of a believable, 3-D spatial auditory environment reinforcing the correlated visual and motion cues. This paper addresses the auditory system criteria, its state-of-the-art design, philosophy, functional issues, and contributive benefits from the sound subsystem which is incorporated in the NADS program. Additionally, the symphony of properly correlated driving cues is reviewed in relationship with the role of the sound subsystem. Special emphasis is provided on the human factor aspects, which define proper auditory immersion and its expected effect on driver behaviour.
Abstract