The History of Research and Development of Driving Simulators in Japan

Abstract

In Japan, it became necessary to address the issue of traffic accidents in the 1960s, when traffic accidents increased rapidly with the spread of motorization within the nation. The need for driving simulators as a tool to tackle the problem was recognized, and a government-led development effort began. Manufacturers followed with their own efforts to develop driving simulators to aid in research of steering and stability. We introduce the history of hardship from the times when the technologies for display and motion systems developed for flight simulators were not readily usable for driving simulators.