Development of a Playful VR Training Sequence for a Treadmill-based Pedestrian Simulator

Abstract

Simulation is one of the central tools to test and evaluate Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) in an effective, repeatable and safe manner. Especially for human-centered evaluation, User-in-the-Loop (UiL) simulators are an essential tool. With an increasing research focus on traffic in urban areas regarding Vulnerable Road Users (VRU) and the interaction between VRUs and motorized vehicles becomes more important. For a VRU pedestrian simulator a motorized omnidirectional 360° treadmill combined with a Head Mounted Display (HMD), offers one of the most advanced solutions for free walking in virtual reality (VR) environments. Although the human motion sequence on such a system pproximates natural walking, moving on this system still differs from walking on a flat and stable surface. An initial training scenario is mandatory so that the users can familiarize themselves with the system. Main objective of such a training is to ensure a stable, safe and natural walking behavior. To achieve these goals a training of specific movements like cornering, stop and go, acceleration and deceleration was designed and a gamification of the training has been conducted. Three training scenarios with increasingly detailed environments have been designed. Respective requirements are addressed in this paper, and the training scenarios are described in detail. Finally, results of both a small training evaluation study as well as a questionnaire-based expert-rating from investigators of recently executed experiments utilizing the pedestrian simulator are presented. In summary, the paper presents and evaluates a first sequence of training scenarios to teach pedestrian simulator users how to handle the HMD based VR simulation and allow for a natural and safe walking on a motorized omnidirectional treadmill within a limited amount of time.