Using Head-Mounted Virtual Reality to Measure Dynamic Driver Sight Distances and Blind Spots

Project Description

In highway and road design, accurately measuring a driver’s line of sight is critical to ensuring unobstructed views that allow drivers to detect, respond to, and safely stop their vehicles before colliding with an object or pedestrian. This safe stopping distance, referred to as Stopping Sight Distance (SSD), is a key design control variable, especially when determining appropriate vehicle speeds on roadway segments with curves, grades, or intersections.

At intersections, sight distance becomes even more vital due to frequent interactions between vehicles, pedestrians, and bicyclists. These interactions, occurring across multiple directions—straight, right turns, and left turns—significantly increase the potential for conflicts, esp. the conflicts between vehicles and pedestrians or bicyclists. Traditional methods for measuring sight distance are, however, time-consuming, labor-intensive, and prone to variability based on the engineer’s experience.

A driver’s blind spots, or blind zones—areas outside their field of view—can further complicate sight distance measurement. These blind spots are influenced by factors such as the driver’s eye height and the vehicle’s design. For example, large A-pillars and oversized rear mirrors in taller vehicles can obstruct a driver’s view, particularly during turning maneuvers. Properly evaluating both sight distance and blind zones is crucial for selecting design speeds and optimizing roadway features to improve safety and functionality.

Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) technologies offer promising solutions for addressing these challenges and improving the state-of-the-art technology for measuring and understanding drivers’ SSDs and blind spots. By combining realistic driving simulations with real-time eye and head tracking, VR/AR can enable efficient and accurate assessments of sight distance and driver blind zones more efficiently and more comprehensively than is currently done. This project seeks to explore the following research questions:

1. How does dynamic driver modeling differ from static driver modeling regarding the driver’s ability to observe the road, pedestrians, and their surrounding environment?

2. How does dynamic driver behavior affect sight distance and driver blind zones at intersections?

3. How will the choice of driving speed and path differ with and without driver blind spots and sight limitations?

Answering these questions will provide a deeper understanding of driver blind spots and sight limitations, enabling engineers to optimize roadway designs for enhanced safety and efficiency. Furthermore, these insights can assist drivers in selecting appropriate speeds and navigation paths, reducing the likelihood of conflicts with pedestrians and bicyclists. By leveraging VR/AR technologies, this research aims to streamline the evaluation process and advance roadway design practices, ultimately contributing to safer, more efficient transportation systems.