Abstract:

Generally, a beginning student generation of university does not have enough driving experience. Japanese general beginning student is under 20 years old, and they can get driver’s license 18 years of age and older. Therefore, they don’t have enough driving experience. An experience that includes worse cases such as traffic accidents is important for understanding how to drive safely. A novice driver learns more skills directly; a traffic accident experiences gives the knowledge how to avoid traffic accident. However, the novice driver does not need to get knowledge how to avoid traffic accident by real traffic accident experiences.

We can find a system such as driving simulator for getting more driving experiences [1]. General driving simulator makes accident event suddenly. The driving simulator generates to acquire traffic accident situation in the virtual environment for learners. In addition, the accident event provides driver’s view on the simulator screen. It is difficult to grasp deeply what is the cause of traffic accident. Because, when the driver encounters traffic accident situation suddenly, the driver panics by sudden accidental situation. To keep acquiring the driving training with driver’s view and accidental event, the learners must keep stressful condition in the driving simulator. On the other hand, a witness can understand traffic accident situation deeply. The witness view has wider eyesight than driver’s view. As a result, the witness view can correct more detail of traffic accident situation than driver’s view. And it can be corrected with a calm mind.

In this research, we have built a traffic accident simulation system for traffic safety education. Especially, proposed system provides a traffic accident simulation by view of witness. This system uses a usual Android based smartphone and VR (Virtual Reality) goggle, and this system provides 360 degree view around the point of traffic accident. And, this system provides a traffic accident replaying environment over the mixed reality technology. The integrated smartphone camera provides the background canvas of the real space, and the traffic scene generated by 3D-CG animation overlays the traffic accident situation on the real space. This proposed system is not based just 3D-CG environment. As a result, the learners can follow smoothly traffic accident situation by witness view, and the learners can understand what the cause of the traffic accident.

In this paper, we describe the environment of mixed reality based traffic accident simulation system. And we describe a configuration of proposed prototype system. Finally, we show the experimental use and result.

References:
[1] J.Wagner, Q. Yao, at. el.: Assessment of an Automotive Driving Simulator to Educate Novice Drivers, pp.18-32, Clemson University TigerPrints, 2013.

Keywords:

Mixed Reality, Traffic Safety Education.