Coupled simulator for research on the interaction between pedestrians and (automated) vehicles

Bazilinskyy, P., Kooijman, L.*, De Winter, J. C. F.

Proceedings of Driving Simulation Conference (DSC). Antibes, France (2020)

ABSTRACT Driving simulators are regarded as valuable tools for human factors research on automated driving and traffic safety. However, simulators that enable the study of human-human interactions are rare. In this study, we present an open-source coupled simulator developed in Unity. The simulator supports input from head-mounted displays, motion suits, and game controllers. It facilitates research on interactions between pedestrians and humans inside manual and automated vehicles. We present results of a demo experiment on the interaction between a passenger in an automated car equipped with an external human-machine interface, a driver of a manual car, and a pedestrian. We conclude that the newly developed open-source coupled simulator is a promising tool for future human factors research.