Using Virtual Reality Techniques to Investigate Interactions Between Fully Autonomous Vehicles and Vulnerable Road Users

Abstract

At roadway ecosystems with frequent movement conflicts among vehicles, pedestrians, and other road users, a road user entering the location immediately triggers a vibrant exchange of informal or formal cues with other road users and the traffic environment to ensure safe and efficient movement for all the road users at that location and at that time. For such communication, the non-vehicle road users typically use informal communication mechanisms to interpret other road users’ intentions for making movement decisions. In the prospective era of FAVs (fully autonomous vehicles) that self-drive in any environment and conditions), these informal communication mechanisms will become obviated because the FAV has no human driver. As such, a new paradigm of communication among road users is needed in the FAV era to avoid misinterpretation of pedestrian actions and intentions that could lead to collisions. This is particularly important not only for pedestrians but also for all road users that are considered vulnerable to sustain serious injury or death if they collide with a vehicle. This study first reviewed relevant literature on the interfaces for human-computer communication and the pedestrian-AV interaction. Then the study compared the demerits and merits of using virtual reality (VR) vs. augmented reality (AR) for simulating and analyzing FAV-VRU interactions. Next, the study developed a framework for studying FAV-VRU interaction using VR and AR tools and presented the two aspects of this framework: design of the simulation environment (including scenarios); and design of the experiment including the data collection protocol. This is done for a prospective future implementation because during the study period, persistent COVID concerns precluded full conduction of the framework using human subjects. Next, the study obtained and modified open-source resources to develop a simulation environment for the CAV-VRU interaction study, and established the problem setting and the simulation environment. Overall, the full experimental framework, when implemented, can ultimately provide useful guidance to state and local agencies as they proceed to document their VRU safety assessments in compliance with the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA).