Are Head-mounted Displays Really Not Suitable for Driving Simulation? A Comparison with a Screen-Based Simulator

Head-mounted displays (HMDs) are considered a promising, highly immersive display technology, which has been widely discussed in the context of driving simulation. The literature is heterogeneous to date with regard to the effects of HMDs on simulator sickness, the sense of presence, and perception. In the present study, a comparison between a modern HMD with a screen-based (LED wall) simulator is conducted in a repeated-measures driving simulator study including N = 31 subjects. The results indicate that the HMD is neither better nor worse, but performs equally well as the screen-based simulator in terms of simulator sickness, presence, and active distance perception. Evidence for passive distance and speed perception was only anecdotal, though also mostly points at a null-effect. The only (anecdotal) evidence of worse performance in the HMD simulator was in an active braking task. Accordingly, the present study did not identify disadvantages of using current HMDs in driving simulation.