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 analyze 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 hungr''
environment. The absence of critical or expected cues influences
driver behavior. 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-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 behavior.