Supplementary material for the paper: Creating the illusion of sportiness: Evaluating modified throttle mapping and artificial engine sound for electric vehicles

This file contains the data and the Matlab script used to analyse and generate the figures for the manuscript named: Creating the illusion of sportiness: Evaluating modified throttle mapping and artificial engine sound for electric vehicles. Published in the Journal of Advanced Transportation.<br>Specifically,- 'Matlab Analysis' folder contains the data and the Matlab script for the analysis. The script named "Sportiness_DrivingSimulator_Analysis_clean.m" automatically generates all figures and tables used in the journal paper.- 'Videos' folder contains an example video (and sound) of each condition used the experiment.- 'Additional result tables' folder contains 3 additional result tables- 'Senso_pedals_info' file contains some information about the driving pedals used in this driving simulator experiment.<br>Abstract of journal paper:<br><i>Modern computerized vehicles offer the possibility to change vehicle parameters with the aim of creating a novel driving experience, such as an increased feeling of sportiness. For example, electric vehicles can be designed to provide an artificial sound, and the throttle mapping can be adjusted to give drivers the illusion that they are driving a sports vehicle (i.e., without altering the vehicle’s performance envelope). However, a fundamental safety-related question is how drivers perceive and respond to vehicle parameter adjustments. As of today, human-subject research on throttle mapping is unavailable, whereas research on sound enhancement is mostly conducted in listening rooms, which provides no insight into how drivers respond to the auditory cues. This study investigated how perceived sportiness and driving behavior are affected by adjustments in vehicle sound and throttle mapping. Through a within-subject simulator-based experiment, we investigated (1) Modified Throttle Mapping (MTM), (2) Artificial Engine Sound via a virtually elevated rpm (AES), and (3) MTM and AES combined, relative to (4) a Baseline condition, and (5) a Sports car that offered increased engine power. Results showed that, compared to Baseline, AES and MTM-AES increased perceived sportiness and yielded a lower speed variability in curves. Furthermore, MTM and MTM-AES caused higher vehicle accelerations than Baseline during the first second of driving away from a standstill. Mean speed and comfort ratings were unaffected by MTM and AES. The highest sportiness ratings and fastest driving speeds were obtained for the Sports car. In conclusion, the sound enhancement not only increased the perception of sportiness but also improved drivers’ speed control performance, suggesting that sound is used by drivers as functional feedback. The fact that MTM did not affect the mean driving speed indicates that drivers adapted their ‘gain’ to the new throttle mapping and were not susceptible to risk compensation.</i><br><br>

本数据集包含用于撰写题为《营造运动感错觉：评估电动汽车的改进节气门映射与人工发动机音效》的手稿所需的全部数据，以及用于分析该手稿并生成配图的Matlab脚本，该手稿已发表于《先进交通期刊（Journal of Advanced Transportation）》。

具体内容如下：
- "Matlab Analysis"文件夹包含本次分析所用的数据与Matlab脚本。名为"Sportiness_DrivingSimulator_Analysis_clean.m"的脚本可自动生成该期刊论文中所用的全部图表与表格。
- "Videos"文件夹包含实验中各实验条件对应的示例视频（含音频）。
- "Additional result tables"文件夹包含3份额外的结果表格。
- "Senso_pedals_info"文件包含本次驾驶模拟器实验所用驾驶踏板的相关信息。

该期刊论文的摘要如下：
现代电子化车辆支持调整车辆参数，以打造全新的驾驶体验，例如增强运动感。例如，电动汽车可通过设计添加人工发动机音效（Artificial Engine Sound），同时可调整节气门映射（throttle mapping），让驾驶者产生驾驶运动型车辆的错觉，且无需改变车辆的性能边界。然而，一个关乎安全的核心问题是：驾驶者如何感知并响应车辆参数调整。截至目前，尚未有针对节气门映射的人类受试者研究，而针对音效增强的研究大多在听音室中开展，无法揭示驾驶者对听觉提示的实际响应情况。
本研究探讨了车辆音效与节气门映射调整对感知运动感及驾驶行为的影响。通过受试者内设计的驾驶模拟器实验，我们对比了五种实验条件：（1）改进型节气门映射（Modified Throttle Mapping, MTM）、（2）基于虚拟提升转速的人工发动机音效（Artificial Engine Sound via a virtually elevated rpm, AES）、（3）MTM与AES组合方案，以及（4）基线条件（Baseline）、（5）搭载增强型发动机动力的运动型跑车。
实验结果显示：相较于基线条件，AES与MTM-AES组合方案提升了感知运动感，并降低了弯道中的车速变异性。此外，在车辆从静止起步的前1秒内，MTM与MTM-AES组合方案带来的车辆加速度高于基线条件。平均车速与舒适度评分不受MTM及AES的影响。运动型跑车组获得了最高的运动感评分与最快的驾驶车速。
综上，音效增强不仅提升了运动感感知，还改善了驾驶者的车速控制表现，这表明驾驶者将音效作为功能性反馈信息。MTM未对平均驾驶车速产生影响这一结果说明，驾驶者已针对新的节气门映射调整了自身的“增益”，且未出现风险补偿（risk compensation）行为。