Skip to main content

TRL launches VR blind spot detector

UK-based research establishment TRL has launched a blind spot simulator rig which uses virtual reality to improve truck cab design, road layouts and improve the safety of road users and reduce costs for designers. The precision of the system is based on a physical rig developed by TRL and Volvo. It ensures an accurate representation of direct vision from a real-life Volvo vehicle cab which allows seat, steering and wheel adjustments to be replicated for each driver.
October 6, 2017 Read time: 2 mins

UK-based research establishment 491 TRL has launched a blind spot simulator rig which uses virtual reality to improve truck cab design, road layouts and improve the safety of road users and reduce costs for designers.

The precision of the system is based on a physical rig developed by TRL and 609 Volvo. It ensures an accurate representation of direct vision from a real-life Volvo vehicle cab which allows seat, steering and wheel adjustments to be replicated for each driver. The VR experience is then reconfigured to reflect their physical dimensions and individual seat positions - which results in an accurate replication of driving a real vehicle.

Ceki Erginbas, senior researcher at TRL, said: "With this calibrated system, we can accurately test new vehicles or road environment designs, without the need to physically build them. We can also accurately recreate traffic accidents, from the viewpoint of different people located at the scene.  

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • TRL develops vehicle safety standards for Europe
    February 28, 2019
    Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) has developed new vehicle safety standards which it claims will save 25,000 lives and assist European countries in the development of autonomous vehicles (AVs). Matthias Seidl, senior researcher - vehicle safety & regulation at TRL, says the advanced safety measures will protect all road users. “Intelligent speed assistance and drowsiness and distraction recognition will support drivers in their ongoing tasks, autonomous emergency braking and emergency lane keeping wi
  • Sign language reduces human error says Clearview
    September 26, 2019
    Wrong-way warning systems and advanced queue detection can help to reduce human error. They can also cut road accidents – and therefore road deaths, says Clearview Intelligence Where were nearly 1,800 deaths on the UK’s roads in 2018 – an average of five people dying each day. The largest single cause of serious injury is crashes at junctions (accounting for 33% of incidents), while the largest single cause of death was run-off road crashes (30%) “With vehicles increasingly being designed with saf
  • Just Zip it! Lindsay takes to the road
    October 10, 2018
    Greater vehicle connectivity is going to have huge implications for traffic management. David Arminas climbed aboard a Lindsay Road Zipper to see what this might mean in future As vice president of barrier specialist QMB Canada, Marc-Andre Seguin is sanguine about the future for moveable barriers. On the one hand, it looks good. The oft-stated advantage of moveable barriers is that the systems are cheaper to install than adding a lane or two to a highway or bridge. Directional changes to lanes can boost
  • Big data and self-driving cars: New studies from ITF
    May 29, 2015
    Two new reports launched by the International Transport Forum (ITF) during the Annual Summit of Transport Ministers in Leipzig, Germany, highlight issues for the transport sector: the use of big data and the trend towards automated cars. The ITF claims that failing to ensure strong privacy protection in the collection and processing of location data may result in a regulatory backlash against the technology, which could hamper innovation and limit the social and economic benefits the use of such data delive