Mapping of data obtained on driving simulator to reality based on simulator validation results (WIP)

Abstract

The use of a driving simulator can be preferable to on-road experiments for cost-efficient rapid prototype testing or dangerous driving scenario evaluations. However, the mismatch of the simulator and the actual driving environment might alter a driver's behavior. This might lead to deceptive results that are not applicable to reality. Therefore, before using the simulator, one must assess its fidelity. In this paper we validate a three-screen desktop simulator by comparing the simulator and on-road tests for a driver's perception of the environment and their driving response. The validation results point to considerable perception alteration and change of driving behavior on the simulator. We propose using the simulator validation results to create a mapping from the simulator domain to the real world to overcome the distortion. The mapping is in the form of a transformation of probability density functions associated with driving response characteristics. In this work we focus on the driving tasks of vehicle following and lane changing to demonstrate the approach.