{"id":9435,"date":"2020-08-05T14:02:55","date_gmt":"2020-08-05T12:02:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.laval-virtual.com\/?p=9435"},"modified":"2020-12-21T14:51:50","modified_gmt":"2020-12-21T13:51:50","slug":"inventing-tomorrows-autonomous-cars-thanks-to-virtual-reality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.laval-virtual.com\/en\/inventing-tomorrows-autonomous-cars-thanks-to-virtual-reality\/","title":{"rendered":"Inventing tomorrow\u2019s autonomous cars thanks to Virtual Reality"},"content":{"rendered":"

Design, safety, construction, maintenance… virtual reality<\/a> is everywhere in the automotive sector. What if we could design the cars of tomorrow with virtual reality? This is the challenge of ST Engineering Antycip. Anaïs Tarbi<\/a>, Event Coordinator, presents the HIKER project, in collaboration with the University of Leeds in England.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The CAVE, an asset for innovation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A VR CAVE<\/a> (Cave Automatic Virtual Environment) is a highly immersive virtual reality space. More precisely, a cube-shaped room in which each of the surfaces, the floor, the wall and the ceiling, can be used as a projection screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Users usually equip themselves with stereoscopic glasses and interact with visual content via tracking accessories equipped with sensors, to be fully immersed in this virtual environment.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A CAVE can have many applications, especially in the Automotive industry and in Education, but it is also found in Archeology, Architecture, Biology, Meteorology, Medicine and Physics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

VR to optimize tomorrow’s vehicle design<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The University of Leeds<\/a>, in the United Kingdom called upon ST Engineering Antycip<\/a><\/span> for a major experimental research project, unique in its kind: the HIKER project. “W<\/em><\/span>e have been involved with Leeds from the start of the HIKER<\/a> (Highly Immersive Kinematic Experimental Research) project,” <\/span><\/i>says John Mold, Business Development Manager for ST Engineering Antycip.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The goal was to explore technologies that would allow participants, here pedestrians, to interact with the outside world in a variety of urban environments and vehicles, to improve interactions between pedestrians and autonomous cars.”<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The HIKER<\/a> offers a walking space of 9 m x 4 m. Its size allows the users to move concretely over a long distance and therefore improves the experience as well as the transfer of experimental results to the real world. <\/span>The screens and laser projectors used are capable of producing images of remarkable quality with intense colors<\/strong> thanks to their 4K resolution. <\/span>The level of reality in this virtual environment is unprecedented. A level of realism that only HMD (Head Mounted Display) can’t provide. <\/span>Indeed, their single use could compromise experiments which must capture movements of ultimate precision and in real time (need to perform precise calculations in a fraction of a second).<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Innovation for prevention<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Safe interaction between pedestrians and autonomous vehicles is a key example of the research contribution of the HIKER lab. Thanks to VR, it is now possible to recreate risky situations under realistic conditions, in a safe environment. By anticipating the risks, it is then possible to really lower the accident rate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The HIKER laboratory supports experimental research and provides answers to a wide range of questions including Automated Vehicle design<\/strong> and human interaction, warning system design and road crossing and intersection configuration.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result, it is possible contribute to the design of sustainable cities which meet the needs of future populations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Simulation and automotive, a long history<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

CAVEs are already used in many fields of activity. One of the most important economic sectors in which new technologies play a crucial role is the Automotive sector. CAVEs are thus set up to design vehicles in a high-resolution immersive environment<\/strong>, allowing for a wide range of action, from automobile tests, to driver’s perception and training of employees.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks to this immersive visualisation technology, it is now possible to test concepts without producing a prototype or physical model of a vehicle, thus saving the company time and money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And tomorrow?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Virtual reality plays and will continue to play a major role in the automotive world. Trying out these new technologies means allowing vehicle users to enjoy safer, greener and more efficient journeys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today VR helps to reduce accidents, tomorrow it may be able to completely remove human errors<\/strong>. What we can say for sure is that the prospects are promising for the future of vehicles whose innovative approaches remain game-changing.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the era of the autonomous car, in this multifaceted ecosystem, cars will communicate to other vehicles, to infrastructures, to pedestrians, to all their surroundings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\"Nouveau<\/a><\/span>