Driving simulation sickness and the sense of presence: Correlation and contributing factors
DOI: 10.1016/j.trf.2021.02.005
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Summary
This study investigates the relationship between simulation sickness (SS) and the sense of presence (SP) in a medium-fidelity driving simulator, while examining how demographic factors and road environments influence these metrics. Driving simulators are critical for traffic safety research, but SS—a form of motion sickness caused by sensory conflict—can bias experimental data. Conversely, SP, defined as the subjective feeling of being in the virtual environment, is crucial for validity. The authors aimed to fill gaps in the literature regarding the specific correlations between SS and SP subscales, the impact of socio-demographic characteristics, and the effect of road environments (urban vs. rural) on these factors, particularly within the diverse driving population of Qatar. The researchers conducted an experiment using a fixed-base medium-fidelity simulator equipped with three large LCD monitors and a real vehicle cockpit. Data were collected from 125 licensed drivers who completed a 25-minute drive in either an urban arterial scenario (80 km/h speed limit, complex visual environment) or a rural expressway scenario (120 km/h speed limit, simpler environment). Participants completed the Simulation Sickness Questionnaire (SSQ) and the Presence Questionnaire (PQ) after their drives. The SSQ measured nausea, oculomotor disturbance, and disorientation, while the PQ assessed spatial presence, involvement, and realness. Statistical analyses included Kruskal-Wallis tests for demographic comparisons and Spearman’s correlations to assess relationships between variables. The results revealed significant demographic influences on SS. Female participants reported significantly higher scores for oculomotor disturbance and disorientation than males. Nausea scores increased with age, with the oldest group reporting the highest mean scores, and varied by ethnicity, with Westerners reporting higher nausea than Asians or Africans. Regarding the road environment, driving in the rural expressway scenario resulted in significantly higher SS scores (nausea, oculomotor, and total sickness) compared to the urban scenario. Conversely, the urban environment yielded higher SP scores, particularly in the "realism" subscale. The study found that higher SP was associated with lower SS, suggesting that environments designed to replicate real-world details, such as buildings and roadside elements, enhance presence and mitigate sickness. The study concludes that simulator design and scenario characteristics are pivotal in managing SS and enhancing SP. Specifically, incorporating high-resolution, realistic visual elements like buildings can increase the sense of presence and reduce simulation sickness. The findings provide actionable insights for researchers using medium-fidelity simulators, suggesting that adjustments to scenario settings and additional training for high-speed scenarios can improve data validity. By identifying specific contributing factors, the paper offers a framework for optimizing simulator experiments to minimize participant discomfort and bias.
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| Stage | Outcome | Tool | Model | Prompt | Attempts | Completed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| discover | success | Crossref | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-19 |
| archive | success | openalex | — | — | 5 | 2026-06-26 |
| extract | success | cached | — | — | 2 | 2026-06-26 |
| clean | success | clean | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-20 |
| chunk | success | chunk | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-20 |
| embed | success | embed | Qwen/Qwen3-Embedding-8B | — | 1 | 2026-06-20 |
| enrich | success | openalex | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-20 |
| promote | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-19 |
| summarize | success | llm | qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant | summ-v5 | 1 | 2026-06-26 |
| tag | success | vector_similarity | — | — | 6 | 2026-06-20 |
| verify | partial | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-26 |
Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-26; verification: verified_with_issues.
Topics
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- simulator sickness
- simulator validity fidelity
- passenger motion sickness comfort
- simulator training transfer
Information type
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- Methodological Resource: tool software, validation psychometrics