A comparison of techniques to mitigate Simulator Adaptation Syndrome

Abstract

We investigated the effectiveness of galvanic cutaneous stimulation (GCS) and auditory stimulation in mitigating simulator adaptation syndrome (SAS). Fifteen drivers (9 men; M age = 23.2 years) participated in a driving simulation experiment comparing three different stimulation conditions (GCS, auditory stimulation and no stimulation as a base line condition) in curves on a virtual urban circuit. GCS and auditory stimulation decreased SAS by reducing head sway. Both sources of stimulation can be recommended as countermeasures against SAS. We encourage the use of stimuli which influence the balancing ability to the design of future simulator protocols and devices to mitigate SAS.

Abstract

Practitioner Summary: We have provided evidence on the effectiveness of two different stimuli as countermeasures against simulator adaptation syndrome (SAS). We concluded that the positive impact of body sway might play a role in SAS and therefore encourage the use of stimuli which influence the balancing ability to mitigate the symptoms of SAS.

Keywords::

• simulator adaption syndrome
• driving task
• simulator sickness questionnaire
• galvanic cutaneous stimulation
• auditory stimulation

Acknowledgements

Thanks to D. de la Peña for his help with the collection of the data. Thanks to Carlos Arenas for his help with the experimental set-up and analysis of the data. Thanks to M. Lavin and M. Sassman for their insightful comments.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science [grant number EX-2010-0980].