Implementation of a Validation Environment for an Emotionalizing Sound Design in a Driving Simulator

Active sound design is an emerging feature in premium electric vehicles, aimed at elevating the driving experience's emotional aspect. Musicology research has shown that emotions can be influenced by certain harmonic pitches and acoustical characteristics, while traffic psychology studies indicate emotions can impact driving behaviour. Surprisingly, little research has explored how modifying a vehicle's active sound affects driving behaviour. To investigate the impact of an emotionalizing vehicle sound on driving behaviour, a study with subjects needs to be conducted in a static driving simulator. This controlled environment ensures reproducible results and precise manipulation of driving scenarios. This paper details the validation environment's implementation for studying the effects of emotional sound design in a driving simulator. Initially the methodology for the developed sound design and the driving simulator study based on the IPEK X-in-the-Loop approach is described. It describes the necessary data output from the simulator, and the software interface connecting the sound generator to the driving simulator. The challenges of integrating an external sound speaker for a realistic soundscape and aligning vehicle sound with simulator dynamics are discussed. ... mehrThe paper also addresses data collection for evaluating driving behaviour and the impact of sound design on safety distances.