Inside Virttex, Ford's Driver Distraction Simulator 126
An anonymous reader writes "After my collision the world went blank but I didn't see angels and harps because the highway and the crash situation were imaginary, created inside Ford's Virttex (virtual text track experiment cockpit simulator). Functioning much like a simulator for pilots, this domed virtual world on pitching and sliding stilts has been used to test car cockpits and instruments since 2001. It played a role in the development of recent center stacks such as MyFord Touch. In recent years, Ford used Virttex driver distraction research to learn more about what causes driver inattention and what countermeasures Ford can embed into cars to keep people like me from becoming another Darwinian statistic. It also gives Ford a leg up on the competition — Ford says it's the only automaker in the U.S. with a virtual reality simulator of this magnitude."
Here's a clue... (Score:5, Insightful)
I want physical switches with positive tactile feedback whose function is clear and doesn't keep changing in different "modes" just because you're too cheap to provide a separate switch for different things. Cars of the 1960s with great big toggle switches on wooden dashboards were easier to drive than this.
Re:Here's a clue... (Score:4, Insightful)
BMW has steadfastly refused to include touch screens, exactly because they require you to take your attention off the road to use. BMW uses a rotating joystick controller located near the shifter, and the UI is designed so that you can glance to and from quickly with little need to maintain context. They also insist on placing the screen very high in the dash to minimize the distance your eyes have to travel when glancing at the screen and maximize your peripheral vision while you are looking.
They also have a full cockpit simulator where they do extensive driver attention studies. Say what you will about the iDrive system, but it gets top marks for minimizing driver distraction.
Re:We should test all drivers inside simulator als (Score:3, Insightful)
I would say that speeding is the cause of near zero traffic accidents.
Speeding vehicles in the hands of the inexperienced drivers are very very deadly
On the other hand, most experienced drivers do not drive like crazy
Re:We should test all drivers inside simulator als (Score:5, Insightful)
Sorry, but speeding rarely is the CAUSE of any accident. Speed differentials can be. And accident damage will increase with speed. But going fast does not, in itself, cause accidents.
And by definition "speeding" is *ANY* speed over the speed limit. Since 98% of people drive over the speed limit (they do here at least), how is it that 98% of cars are not in accidents?
The leading causes of accidents are probably:
* Failure to stop in time because of following too closely
* Not looking/knowing what is in a lane before changing lanes
* Distracted driving of any sort (passengers, phones, controls, etc)
* Falling asleep
* Intoxicated driving
* Reckless driving (weaving, lane splitting, running lights, chicken, etc)
Re:We should test all drivers inside simulator als (Score:3, Insightful)
While speeding is the leading cause for most traffic accidents
False. http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/cats/listpublications.aspx?Id=A&ShowBy=DocType [dot.gov] Document 811630 pages 4 and 6 demonstrate that alcohol is just as big a factor in fatal crashes. In fact, I would argue that it is a much bigger factor because a lot more people speed than drink and drive.
Re:We should test all drivers inside simulator als (Score:5, Insightful)
The problem with the term 'speeding' is that it has two meanings. The first is the simple "exceed the posted speed limit". The second is "too fast for the conditions".
The reality is that an experienced driver will drive to the conditions which in some (many?) cases may include "exceeding the speed limit", and in other cases will be driving far below the posted limit. The same driver is, however, very unlikely to drive "too fast for the conditions".
An inexperienced (or careless) driver on the other hand is likely to do the opposite. In your example, the driver is driving dangerously (irrespective of speed). "Shooting through" red lights is idiocy on the grandest scale (again irrespective of speed), and basically means they weren't paying any attention to the road at all.
They should teach students on these things (Score:5, Insightful)
With 30-thousand some traffic fatalities a year, it would be well worth it.
I mean, there are like 20-30 some common scenarios that kids could be faced with in the simulator. Experiences they could have without being actual near misses. Or hits, like the unfortunates who don't make it, or are maimed. You get your driver's test after you've completed all the scenarios and have done actual driving time.
Experienced drivers are better because of their experience and near misses over the years.
It would save a lot of lives.