Influence of video characteristics of simulator images on remote driving performance

Driving simulators are finding potential use as display devices in specialized applications such as the remote control and manipulation of vehicles. This work is an attempt to understand how driving control is affected by the video characteristics of simulator images, in particular the update frequency, and the image delay. Five subjects took part in this study. The experimental task was to drive a car displayed on the monitor at different combinations of update frequency and image delay, and the time to complete the task was used as a measure of performance. Results show the presence of characteristic changes in driving time with alterations in update frequency and frame lag. Implications of these findings are discussed in relationship to the video characteristics of visual displays in driving simulators used for the remote control of vehicles by human operators.