MAXIM: Mixed-reality Automotive Driving XIMulation

In-lab driving simulators have been favored by human-vehicle interaction researchers and interface designers due to their capabilities in unfettered construction of surrounding environments. On-road driving simulators, meanwhile, were developed for experiments in a real-world context. We introduce new methods and tools for simulating driving via virtual vehicle in real-world environments. The proposed system fully exploits the benefits of vivid sensory information in real road environments without sacrificing the unlimited potential of environment construction for it. In this paper, we explain the system design of the platform, and we verify its capabilities as a driving simulator through a pilot study (N=10). The proposed platform is perceived as highly realistic and can easily be augmented to test new urban landscapes and futuristic interfaces before occupancies.

1 Introduction

Driving simulators are key elements in designing human autonomous vehicle interactions. They empower researchers to simulate a range of scenarios that real self-driving cars cannot replicate, either safely or at all. In-lab driving simulators help researchers create controlled events, making it possible to test various automotive UI/UX technologies in advance [4]. However, human-vehicle interaction (HVI) researchers still cannot completely replicate inertial forces and vehicle motions that would be detected by the vestibular system. To address these challenges, some on-road driving simulators have adopted the Wizard-of-Oz technique (WoZ). In such simulators, a “wizard” driver either hides herself inside a seat [17] or partition [1], [22], or is separated from the virtual space that the subject views [6]. Figure 1:

(top) subject's viewpoints in the MAXIM (sit on driver's seat in VR space surrounded by real image and (bottom) physical space of the MAXIM.