Driving simulator

Driving simulators are used for entertainment as well as in training of driver's education courses taught in educational institutions and private businesses. They are also used for research purposes in the area of human factors and medical research, to monitor driver behavior, performance, and attention and in the car industry to design and evaluate new vehicles or new advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS).

Driving simulators are being increasingly used for training drivers all over the world. Research has shown that driving simulators are proven to be excellent practical and effective educational tools to impart safe driving training techniques for all drivers. There are various types of driving simulators that are being used like train simulators, bus simulator, car simulator, truck simulator etc. As of May 2012 the DVLA has removed driving simulators in some places into the hazard perception test that is required prior to taking the practical driving examination, lowering the chance of gaining experience. This includes learner drivers being able to park a car in various examples that require successful parking in order for candidates to pass the test.

Manufacturers such as Simworx in Australia, ADH Labs in India, Tecknotrove, Faros Simulation System and XPI Simulation are active in developing Driver Training Simulators that are relevant to Road Safety as well as immersive Student Driver Training. Hazard Perception and Disability Simulators for training amputees or the disabled in the use of hand controls whilst still abiding with local road rules are one of many features found in their simulators.

Advances in processing power have led to more realistic simulators in recent years, beginning with Papyrus Design Group's groundbreaking Grand Prix Legends for the PC, released in 1998

Occasionally, a racing game or driving simulator will also include an attachable steering wheel that can be used to play the game in place of a controller. The wheel, which is usually plastic, may also include pedals to add to the game's reality. These wheels are usually used only for computer games.

In addition to the myriad commercial releases there is a bustling community of amateur coders working on closed and open source free simulators. Some of the major features popular with fans of the genre are online racing, realism and diversity of cars and tracks.

...
Wikipedia