Sammanfattningsvis definierar vi i denna guide ’smarta gator’ kort sagt som mångfunktionella, levande, långsamma, ekologiska och flexibla gator. Det övergripande målet med denna guide är följaktligen ”Smarta gator för en hållbar stadsutveckling”.

Denna rapport beskriver arbetet av arbetspaket 6 och 8 i det Vinnova-finansierade projektet Smarta gator. Utifrån arkitektoniska beskrivningar har tre olika VR-miljöer skapats – så kallade ”digitala tvillingar” av en idag existerande gatumiljö i Stockholm, samt två olika tänkbara framtida versioner av gatumiljön. Den simulerade miljön kan upplevas av fotgängare i VTI:s fotgängarsimulator, och alternativt också av bilist genom co-simulering med annan körsimulator. De två tänkbara framtidsvisionerna utvärderades från ett fotgängarperspektiv genom en workshop med 30 försökspersoner i VTI:s fotgängarsimulator i Linköping. Deltagarnas svar visar tydligt att upplevelsen av trygghet, prioritet samt trevlighet/trivsel ökade i de smarta miljöerna jämfört med den ursprungliga miljön. 

Läsbarheten av gaturummet upplevdes i de smarta miljöerna dock något sämre än i ursprungsmiljön. En förklaring kan vara att många känner igen ursprungsmiljön eftersom det är en relativt vanlig gatutyp – breda körfält för bil, kantstensparkering och trottoarer, medan de smarta miljöerna är uppbyggda på ett annorlunda sätt vilket kan innebära en omställning för att förstå en ”ny typ” av gata. 

Sammantaget visar studien på hur man kan skapa gaturum som upplevs trevligare och tryggare genom att prioritera gång- och cykeltrafik genom en större yta tillägnat gång, cykel och vistelse än för motortrafik. Även skapandet av vistelseytor och sociala funktioner längs gatan hade en positiv effekt på upplevelsen av gaturummet. Att placera träd och grönska längs gatan är utöver de ekologiska fördelarna också viktigt för trivseln och upplevelsen av gaturummet. 

Vi konstaterar att VR-simulering kan vara ett användbart verktyg för att på ett tidigt stadium bedöma olika designlösningar. VTI:s fotgängarsimulator har ett state-of-the-art bildsystem, men dess fria yta om 3x6 meter är för liten för att på ett smidigt sätt kunna promenera runt i stadsmiljön. Autonoma fotgängare, styrda av spelmotorn Unreal Engine, upplevdes av de flesta försökspersoner som väldigt verklighetstrogna, och de bidrog till illusionen om att vara på plats i miljön.

This report describes the work of work packages 6 and 8 in the Vinnova-funded Smarta gator project. Based on architectural descriptions, three different VR environments have been created – so-called “digital twins” of a currently existing street environment in Stockholm, as well as two different possible future versions of the street environment. The simulated environment can be experienced by pedestrians in VTI’s pedestrian simulator, and alternatively also by motorists through co-simulation with another driving simulator. The two possible visions for the future were evaluated from a pedestrian perspective through a workshop with 30 subjects in VTI’s pedestrian simulator in Linköping. The participants’ answers clearly show that the experience of security, priority and well-being increased in the smart environments compared with the original environment. 

However, the readability of the street space was experienced in the smart environments somewhat degraded compared to the original environment. One explanation may be that many people recognize the original environment because it is a relatively common type of street – wide lanes for cars, curbside parking and sidewalks, while the smart environments are structured in a different way, which may need additional experience to understand this “new type” of street. 

Overall, the study demonstrates how street spaces can be created that are experienced as more pleasant and safer by prioritising pedestrian and bicycle traffic through a larger area dedicated to walking, cycling and accommodation than for motor traffic. The creation of living spaces and social functions along the street also had a positive effect on the experience of the street space. Placing trees and greenery along the street is in addition to the ecological benefits also important for the well-being and experience of the street space. 

It is concluded that VR simulation can be a useful tool for assessing various design solutions at an early stage. VTI’s pedestrian simulator is equipped with a state-of-the-art image system, but the restricted area of 3x6 meters is too small to allow for a person to easily walk around the urban environment. Autonomous pedestrians, controlled by the game engine Unreal Engine, were perceived by most subjects as very realistic, and they contributed to the illusion of being in place in the environment.

Driving simulators are established tools used during automotive development and research. Most simulators use either monitors or projectors as their primary display system. However, the emergence of a new generation of head-mounted displays has triggered interest in using these as the primary display type. The general benefits and drawbacks of head-mounted displays are well researched, but their effect on driving behavior in a simulator has not been sufficiently quantified.

This article presents a study of driving behavior differences between projector-based graphics and head-mounted display in a large dynamic driving simulator. This study has selected five specific driving maneuvers suspected of affecting driving behavior differently depending on the choice of display technology. Some of these maneuvers were chosen to reveal changes in lateral and longitudinal driving behavior. Others were picked for their ability to highlight the benefits and drawbacks of head-mounted displays in a driving context.

The results show minor changes in lateral and longitudinal driver behavior changes when comparing projectors and a head-mounted display. The most noticeable difference in favor of projectors was seen when the display resolution is critical to the driving task. The choice of display type did not affect simulator sickness nor the realism rated by the subjects.

Automated and connected traffic systems with cooperative functionality need effective testing. One way to enable such testing is to represent the current traffic environment by co-simulating different simulators using a communication layer between the simulators for cooperative functionality. With this approach, this paper presents a platform with its included simulators (vehicle, pedestrian, and traffic simulators), the used run-time infrastructure (RTI) for co-simulation, and the connection to the Unreal Engine based visual system for the simulators. The architecture was tested with two vehicle simulators (one autonomous bus and a truck), one pedestrian simulator, and one traffic simulator connected using a cloud-based service for the RTI.

Head mounted displays (HMDs) is an emerging technology and the availability of affordable systems is growing fast. Replacing projector and large screen solutions with head mounted displays may appear as an appealing solution. However, inherent properties and technical limitations of these systems need to be understood and considered before making the leap to virtual reality.

This paper outlines some of the most fundamental limitations of head mounted displays relevant to this context, both from a technical and human factors perspective. Desirable properties of scenarios and types of studies are deduced, based on these limitations. Finally, a meta analysis is performed on the feasibility of transferring simulator studies found in the literature to platforms with head mounted displays. The results suggest that a noticeable amount (40%) of the investigated simulator studies could likely have been performed with head mounted displays. This number could be increased further with technical advances in display resolution, display technology, reduction in latency, etc.

Projektet har syftat till att visa på möjligheterna för att göra studier av fotgängarbeteende genom att nyttja modern Virtual Reality-teknik. Under projektets gång har en VR-studio byggts upp på VTIs kontor i Linköping. Till denna miljö har det utvecklats mjukvara som kan användas för att studera beteendet hos fotgängare i tänkta trafiksituationer. Simulatorn är utrustad med blickmätningssystem vilket gör att det går att både mäta och interaktivt visualisera var användaren har sin uppmärksamhet i varje ögonblick. Det går att uppleva vad användaren ser i den virtuella världen ur både ett förstapersons- och tredjepersonsperspektiv. Det finns ett särskilt läge för Mixed Reality, det vill säga ett läge där en verklig videoström kombineras med den datorgenererade omgivningen. För att visa nyttan med simulatorn så har ett scenario utvecklats. I detta scenario kan en användare uppleva hur det är att interagera med olika fordon, både självkörande och andra.

This paper presents a comparative study of driving behavior when using different virtual reality modes. Test subjects were exposed to mixed, virtual, and real reality using a head mounted display capable of video see-through, while performing a simple driving task. The driving behavior was quantified in steering and acceleration/deceleration activities, divided into local and global components. There was a distinct effect of wearing a head mounted display, which affected all measured variables. Results show that average speed was the most significant difference between mixed and virtual reality, while the steering behavior was consistent between modes. All subjects but one were able to successfully complete the driving task, suggesting that virtual driving could be a potential complement to driving simulators.

This paper presents a comparative study of driving behavior when using different virtual reality modes. Test subjects were exposed to mixed, virtual, and real reality using a head mounted display capable of video see-through, while performing a simple driving task. The driving behavior was quantified in steering and acceleration/deceleration activities, divided into local and global components. There was a distinct effect of wearing a head mounted display, which affected all measured variables. Results show that average speed was the most significant difference between mixed and virtual reality, while the steering behavior was consistent between modes. All subjects but one were able to successfully complete the driving task, suggesting that virtual driving could be a potential complement to driving simulators.

The DeDT2 project is an extension of the DeDT project. The design tool developed in DeDT had limitations from a use case perspective. Thus, more functionality was desired. DeDT2 addresses these demands and is a more versatile tool for creating the simulated environment. The scope of DeDT2 has been focused on the creation of roads and crossroads, not on the environment outside the road surface. DeDT2 has evolved to a tool which can create ordinary road segments of different characteristics and put them together to drivable entities. Included in the scope is preparing 3D assets, developed during the DeDT project, to be more suitable in simulation environments. The result from DeDT2 is a second step towards designing a tool for the creation of more complete simulated driving environments.

Using mixed reality in vehicles provides a potential alternative to using driving simulators when studying driver-vehicle inter- action. However, virtual reality systems introduce latency in the visual system that may alter driving behavior, which, in turn, results in questionable validity. Previous studies have mainly focused on visual latency as a separate phenomenon. In this work, latency is studied from a task-dependent viewpoint to investigate how participants’ driving behavior changed with increased latency. In this study, the investigation was performed through experiments in which regular drivers were subjected to different levels of visual latency while performing a simple slalom driving task. The drivers’ performances were recorded and evaluated in both lateral and longitudinal directions along with self-assessment questionnaires regarding task performance and difficulty. All participants managed to complete the driving tasks successfully, even under high latency conditions, but were clearly affected by the increased visual latency. The results suggest that drivers compensate for longer latencies by steering more and increasing the safety margins but without reducing their speed.