Title: Perceptions of an automotive load space in a virtual environment

Authors: Glyn Lawson; Tessa Roper; Paul Herriotts; Louise Malcolm; Davide Salanitri

Addresses: Human Factors Research Group, Faculty of Engineering, The University of Nottingham, Coates C41, University Park, NG7 2RD, UK ' Human Factors Research Group, Faculty of Engineering, The University of Nottingham, Coates C41, University Park, NG7 2RD, UK ' Jaguar Land Rover, Gaydon, Warwickshire, CV35 0RR, UK ' Jaguar Land Rover, Gaydon, Warwickshire, CV35 0RR, UK ' Human Factors Research Group, Faculty of Engineering, The University of Nottingham, University Park, NG7 2RD, UK

Abstract: A study was conducted to investigate the accuracy of perceptions of a car load space in a cave automatic virtual environment (CAVE). A total of 46 participants rated load space width, height, depth, usability and overall capacity after viewing either a virtual Range Rover Evoque in the CAVE or the real car. Participants were also asked to estimate how many 100 mm³ blocks could fit in the load space in width, depth or height. The only significant difference was in usability, which was rated higher in the CAVE. There was no systematic over- or under-estimation of distances in the virtual environment. The results suggest that virtual environments can be used for car load space design, particularly for estimates of size, but further work is required to be confident that subjective ratings of virtual properties are equivalent to those of real vehicles.

Keywords: automotive; load space; virtual environment; VE; virtual reality; VR; perception; cave automatic virtual environment; CAVE.

DOI: 10.1504/IJVD.2017.085456

International Journal of Vehicle Design, 2017 Vol.74 No.2, pp.92 - 105

Accepted: 29 Mar 2017
Published online: 26 Jul 2017 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article