Driving Research

DriveSafety’s driving simulation systems are used by research professionals throughout the world. Subject-matter experts use the simulators to better understand driving issues. DriveSafety’s full-size DS-600c, single cockpit DS-250, and the desktop DS-100c hardware provide the basis for the driving simulation research. Add DriveSafety’s advanced scenario authoring tool, HyperDrive Authoring Suite™ and its Vection™ real-time simulation software, researchers are able to create targeted driving scenarios leveraging DriveSafety’s library of roads, intersections, vehicles, traffic patterns and landscapes, plus the ability to script specific actions and to collect the desired results and data.

DriveSafety’s simulation systems are used to conduct research in automotive and roadway design, traffic control and safety measures, human-machine interaction, impact of prescription drugs on drivers, and many characteristics of drivers themselves, such as perception, judgment, and response to different traffic situations, a driver’s fitness or impairments for driving whether physical or cognitive, and other issues of driver choice and behavior. The simulators allow experts to use consistent and repeatable driving experiences to study many different drivers.

Within the driving environments created by the researcher, HyperDrive allows definition of the traffic conditions, environmental states and scripted events that will occur during the simulation. HyperDrive provides extensive control over the data collection and performance measurements that will be carried out by the simulator while scenarios are being driven, including support for many researcher-defined measurement functions.

HyperDrive’s extensive library of over 400 tiles represent freeways and freeway junctions, different types of surface streets and intersections, and a wide variety of environmental settings. Available environmental models include residential, rural, urban, sub-urban, commercial and industrial surroundings. The software gives the subject-matter expert control over lighting, weather, traffic density, and cultural feel.

DriveSafety has an impressive list of customers at some of the world’s leading universities, automobile manufacturers, rehabilitation centers and private research labs. DriveSafety supports these customers’ research goals with an extensive support structure and end user discussion broad. Driving research is done in the following key categories:

• Human Factors and Industrial Engineering
• Psychology
• Transportation Engineering
• Gerontology
• Rehabilitation and Occupation Therapy
• Drugs and Pharmaceuticals

Driving simulators allow researchers, educators and health care experts to use a consistent and repeatable driving environment to accomplish its goals. The following are some applications that lend themselves to driving simulation research:

• Impairments - vision research including studies into eye wear, vision correction, Glaucoma; blocked or narrow field of vision issues including left and right side blind spots; driving and loss of hear hearing; driving and drugs (legal and illegal); and driving and alcohol; etc.
   
• Medical Conditions - studies into driving errors associated with different forms of neurological impairment or disease; e.g., Alzheimer’s, ALS, Multiple Sclerosis, Muscular Dystrophy, diabetes, bipolar disorder, epilepsy; driving performance of handicapped, those using prostheses or orthoses, etc.
   
• Distractions - driving impact and cell phones, radios, CD/MP3 players, headphones, video systems, computers, cruise control, and driver assistance systems; impact of other passengers (adult, children, infants); impact of eating and/or drinking while driving; etc.
   
• Conditions - problematic driving conditions including driving at night, dusk/dawn, temperature variance, rain, snow, fog, pavement types, road contour, road width, shoulder width, confusing or new exchanges or patterns, etc.
   
• New Vehicle Equipment - new cars come with or may someday offer new services or accessories that can impact driving behavior including in-vehicle information systems, proximity warning systems, rear video systems, restraint systems, data recording systems, mapping systems, etc.
   
• Personal Fitness - research into how driver condition can impact driving performance including hours behind the wheel, lack of sleep, time of day, obesity, diet, frequency of exercise, occupational impact, etc.
   
• Rehabilitation - injury or medical conditions can impact an individual’s ability to drive including victims of traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, coronary disease, extremity injuries, major and minor surgery, etc.
   
• Audio / Visual Communications - the impact of road markings, signs, traffic lights, warning lights and/or sounds, external advertisements, external events, in-vehicle signals, etc.
  
• Difficult Driving Maneuvers - certain driving skills can have an impact on driving performance including left turns, merging, stopping, backing, parking, acceleration, passing/overtaking, lane changes, lane choices, roundabouts, etc.
   
• Age / Gender - novice and elderly drivers cause a disproportionate number of accidents– inability to stay in a driving lane, misjudging distances between cars, poor decisions at intersections, behavioral impulsivity (hitting the gas instead of the break), etc.
   
• Attitudes - research into driver attitude and the impact on their driving success including their thoughts toward risk, authority, anger, patience, aggression, etc.
   
• Road and Intersection Designs - new road layout, traffic flow, work zones, signs and signals, pavement markings and control measures, new construction and vegetation designs give transportation engineers a tool to test and verify their ideas prior to costly deployment.
   
• Learning and Teaching Methodology - relationships between speed, breaking and following distance, responding to unsafe and dangerous driving actions, and emergency situations can be taught in a safe yet effective environment, things novice drivers cannot learn in traditional training programs.

Determining normative driving scenarios for researchers is a challenge. DriveSafety works with subject-matter experts to establish industry-acceptable psychometric characteristics such as validity, reliability and diagnostic classifications.