Johnson Controls, Inc. has developed a driving simulator. In the automotive seating industry, there are no other simulators with the same capacity. Before this virtual reality tool could be applied to seat comfort development initiatives, it was necessary to demonstrate, through a series of investigations, an acceptable level of fidelity (sensory realism) and validity (as compared to real world driving). This paper describes one such study, which demonstrated, using a 23-item survey, that there was no significant difference between an actual and simulated ride and drive. Based partly on this evidence, the driving simulator was justifiably incorporated into the product development process.
