The effect of concurrent bandwidth feedback on learning the lane-keeping task in a driving simulator.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate whether concurrent bandwidth feedback improves learning of the lane-keeping task in a driving simulator.

Background: Previous research suggests that bandwidth feedback improves learning and that off-target feedback is superior to on-target feedback. This study aimed to extend these findings for the lane-keeping task.

Method: Participants without a driver's license drove five 8-min lane-keeping sessions in a driver training simulator: three practice sessions, an immediate retention session, and a delayed retention session I day later. There were four experimental groups (n=15 per group): (a) on-target, receiving seat vibrations when the center of the car was within 0.5 m of the lane center; (b) off-target, receiving seat vibrations when the center of the car was more than 0.5 m away from the lane center; (c) control, receiving no vibrations; and (d) realistic, receiving seat vibrations depending on engine speed. During retention, all groups were provided with the realistic vibrations.

Results: During practice, on-target and off-target groups had better lane-keeping performance than the nonaugmented groups, but this difference diminished in the retention phase. Furthermore, during late practice and retention, the off-target group outperformed the on-target group.The off-target group had a higher rate of steering reversal and higher steering entropy than the nonaugmented groups, whereas no clear group differences were found regarding mean speed, mental workload, or self-reported measures.

Conclusion: Off-target feedback is superior to on-target feedback for learning the lane-keeping task.

Application: This research provides knowledge to researchers and designers of training systems about the value of feedback in simulator-based training of vehicular control.