Evaluating user experience and simulator sickness in a driving simulator evaluation of a traffic-support mobile application

Burger, Gregor (author), Pogačnik, Matevž (author), Guna, Jože (author)

Mobile phone use can distract drivers; however, mobile applications may also improve safety by delivering timely traffic and cooperative intelligent transport system warnings. This pilot study evaluated the user experience of the DARS Traffic Plus (DT+) mobile application and examined simulator sickness and affective burden during its use in a professional driving simulator. Thirty-nine participants were recruited and thirty-three completed all scenarios in a within-subject, counterbalanced design. Following a familiarization scenario, participants completed two comparable driving scenarios: one without DT+ support (S1) and one with DT+ support (S2). User experience was assessed using the User Experience Questionnaire (UEQ), the meCUE 2.0 questionnaire based on the component model of user experience, and a post-interview, while simulator sickness and participant state were measured using the Simulator Sickness Questionnaire (SSQ), Fast Motion Sickness Scale (FMS), and Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), complemented by exploratory eye-tracking observations. Both UEQ and meCUE 2.0 indicated positive user experience, with generally higher ratings in scenario S2 using the DT+ mobile application. UEQ showed a significant difference for Perspicuity, and meCUE 2.0 showed significantly higher scores for usefulness, visual aesthetics, commitment, intention to use, product loyalty, and overall evaluation. SSQ and FMS showed that simulator sickness effects occurred in a subset of participants. PANAS revealed no significant change in positive affect, while negative affect decreased significantly by the end of the evaluation. The findings suggest that DT+ was positively experienced in the simulator setting and that combining user experience measures with sickness monitoring is useful in simulator-based evaluation of driving-related mobile applications.

• Language: English
• Keywords: user experience, simulator sickness, driving simulator, C-ITS, mobile application, eye tracking, hazardous location warning, human factors
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: NTF - Faculty of Natural Sciences and Engineering
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2026
• Number of pages: Str. 1-25
• Numbering: Vol. 16, iss. 13, art. 6620
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-184321
• UDC: 004
• ISSN on article: 2076-3417
• DOI: 10.3390/app16136620
• COBISS.SI-ID: 283581443
• Publication date in RUL: 06.07.2026

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Applied sciences
• Shortened title: Appl. sci.
• Publisher: MDPI
• ISSN: 2076-3417
• COBISS.SI-ID: 522979353

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: uporabniška izkušnja, potovalna slabost, simulator vožnje, kooperativni inteligentni transportni sistemi (C-ITS), mobilna aplikacija, sledenje očem, opozarjanje na nevarne lokacije, človeški dejavniki

Projects

• Funder: ARIS - Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency
• Project number: P2-0450-2024
• Name: Inovativna grafična tehnologija

• Funder: ARIS - Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency
• Project number: P2-0425-2022
• Name: Decentralizirane rešitve za digitalizacijo industrije ter pametnih mest in skupnosti