On Fri, 14 Mar 2008 12:12:36 -0700, pdotson wrote:

> On Mar 12, 12:12Â*am, alexti > wrote:
>> On Tue, 11 Mar 2008 10:05:41 +0100, Asgeir Nesoen wrote:
>>
>> > All this comes from reading the Gs you pull, and this can never be
>> > simulated per se; we'll have to wait for that back-of-your-skull
>> > connector to simulate that.
>>
>> I wonder how much one feels G directly and how much through the
>> pressure on the body parts. The latter can probably simulated
>> relatively easily - it's not necessary to have 1:1 pressure scale.
>
>
> I would guess that for race driving the vast majority of G-force sensing
> occurs through tactile pressure on the driver's body, and very little of
> the 'inner-ear' acceleration sensing comes into play. I believe I've
> read studies to that effect, but can't site them off the top of my head.
>
> You can test it yourself next time you are driving your street car. Pay
> attention to how much you feel small changes in lateral G's on your
> body. I can feel changes in body sensations well below where I think my
> inner sense of balance comes into play.
I'm not certain how to filer out inner sense of balance. Normally, those
two kind of perception seems to be tightly integrated.

> In fact, though, it's not always 'seat-of-the-pants' feedback that you
> are getting. At low G's you actually get more sensation in your back as
> your upper body is pulled sideways.
You're certainly right about that as far as street cars are concerned.
This would come from the extra tension on your muscles. Not sure about
the racing cars where you're strapped in tightly - there you would have
to rely on the pressure, but you can probably still feel G's through
tension in the neck muscles.