Effect of design changes of automobile cabin in the virtual reality space on visual spaciousness

Abstract

Improving space sufficiency of cabin is one of significant factor in enhancing the value of automobiles. However, experiment with actual automobile mock-up requires excessive time and cost. Our aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility of spaciousness evaluation of automobile cabin by using virtual reality (VR). Twelve students (6 males and 6 females) participated in this study. The participants evaluated the visual spaciousness of automobile CG models with different roof heights R (0, +50, and +100 mm) and windshield depth W (0, +100, and +200 mm). The views from driver seat in the VR space were provided, and the subjective space sufficiency was measured in a 7-point Likert scale. The result showed that the average space sufficiency increased with the increase of the roof height and windshield depth, whereas it was almost constant irrespective of the windshield depth when R = +100 mm. The effect of roof height was statistically significant, whereas that of windshield was not significant. The relationship between the probability of the subjective score and the two factors (i.e., roof height and windshield depth) was formulated by applying the ordered logistic regression to the measured data. In addition, the results of ordered logistic regression were compared with a previous study in which the space sufficiency was measured in real space using an actual automobile mock-up. The results of the ordered logistic regression of this study roughly agreed with the previous study.