Abstract
One of the main uses for ship simulators is in the field of port design, and an increasing number of simulators, of varying degrees of fidelity, are being used for this purpose. An essential feature of all such simulators is their visual scene, which must be of sufficent fidelity to convey the key visual cues adequately. This paper examines the ability of a number of experienced mariners to perceive speeds and distances correctly using Computer Generated Imagery visual scenes of different fidelity, compared with their performance at sea. From the results, it was found that the microcomputer based simulator might be considered, as far as its visual scene representation is concerned, to be as valid as the full mission ship simulator for the port design task.