Department of Psychology, Central Michigan University, Mt. Pleasant, MI 48859, United States.
Accid Anal Prev. 2013 Apr;53:127-32. doi: 10.1016/j.aap.2012.12.039. Epub 2013 Jan 23.
The technical advancement of driving simulators has decreased their cost and increased both their accuracy and fidelity. This makes them a useful tool for examining driving behavior in risky or unique situations. With the approaching increase of older licensed drivers due to aging of the baby boomers, driving simulators will be important for conducting driving research and evaluations for older adults. With these simulator technologies, some people may experience significant effects of a unique form of motion sickness, known as simulator sickness. These effects may be more pronounced in older adults. The present study examined the feasibility of an intervention to attenuate symptoms of simulator sickness in drivers participating in a study of a driving evaluation protocol. Prior to beginning the experiment, the experimental groups did not differ in subjective simulator sickness scores as indicated by Revised Simulator Sickness Questionnaire scores (all p>0.5). Participants who experienced a two-day delay between an initial acclimation to the driving simulator and the driving session experienced fewer simulator sickness symptoms as indicated by RSSQ total severity scores than participants who did not receive a two-day delay (F(1,88)=4.54, p=.036, partial η(2)=.049). These findings have implications for improving client well-being and potentially increasing acceptance of driving simulation for driving evaluations and for driving safety research.
驾驶模拟器技术的进步降低了其成本，同时提高了其准确性和逼真度。这使得它们成为研究危险或特殊情况下驾驶行为的有用工具。随着婴儿潮一代的老龄化，越来越多的老年持照驾驶员即将出现，驾驶模拟器对于进行老年人驾驶研究和评估将变得非常重要。随着这些模拟器技术的发展，一些人可能会出现一种独特形式的运动病，即模拟器病，产生显著的影响。这些影响在老年人中可能更为明显。本研究探讨了一种干预措施的可行性，以减轻参与驾驶评估协议研究的驾驶员的模拟器病症状。在开始实验之前，实验组的主观模拟器病评分（如修订后的模拟器病问卷评分所示）没有差异（所有 p>0.5）。与没有接受两天延迟的参与者相比，在驾驶模拟器初次适应和驾驶阶段之间经历两天延迟的参与者的模拟器病症状更少（F(1,88)=4.54，p=.036，偏η²=.049）。这些发现对于改善客户的健康状况并可能增加对驾驶模拟评估和驾驶安全研究的接受度具有重要意义。
