In mobile machine industry, work machine simulators can be used to save time and costs in product development and training. However, investing into expensive or difficult-to-use technology should be avoided if it does not affect measurable user performance or feeling of presence. At Tampere University of Technology, a virtual loader simulator has been constructed in an three-wall walk-in virtual environment. The goal of this research was to investigate how the immersivity of the simulator affects testers’ feeling of presence. A total of 25 test users performed two test runs each with different simulator setups, and the presence level of each user was evaluated by a questionnaire after both runs. The results indicate that switching from 2D view to 3D stereoscopic display did not significantly affect the sense of presence. However, with the motion platform, the test users reported clearly higher presence ratings than without it. In addition, we examined some effects of the users’ backgrounds: Test users who had experience from driving large work machines reported lower presence ratings than those without such experience. The sense of presence for frequent computer players was higher than for non-players, but only in one simulator setup.

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