Research in the VAMS group is performed by each program area. The links below jump to the research for the program area:
Visual Simulation and Modeling Program
Commercial Vehicle Enforcement, Safety, and Security Program
Spatial Data: Research, Training, and Technical Support Program
Jump to Research Archives on ITRE's Main Research Page
Visual Simulation and Modeling Research Efforts
Virtual Bike Study Support Utility of Immersive Visual Simulation for the Behavioral Evaluation of Alternative Roadway Designs
With funding from the Pedestrian and Bike Safety Office of the Florida Department of Transportation, Dr. Hughes conducted a study of bicyclists’ perceptions of the ‘risk’ associated with alternative treatments for accommodating bicyclists (e.g., paved shoulders, marked bicycle lanes, etc.) as a function of traffic volume and vehicle speeds. The study utilized current helmet display technology to provide subjects an immersive capability. Ratings of perceived risk obtained in the ‘simulated’ environment were found to correlate highly with those solicited under actual ‘in the road’ conditions. View Virtual Bike study (pdf, 152 KB).
Joint FHWA-Florida DOT-HSRC Effort Focuses on Visualization ‘Effectiveness’ in the Project Development Process
While at HSRC, Dr. Hughes, in conjunction with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the Florida DOT undertook an effort that focused on the ‘effectiveness’ of visualization within the design and public involvement components of an operational PD&E project, “Evaluation of 3D-4D Visualization: North and South Roosevelt Blvds, Key West, Florida” (FHWA-RE-98-173) (pdf, 25 KB). The final report, published in CDROM format detailed the ‘process’ whereby 3D/4D visualization was applied to the Roosevelt Blvd PD&E Project in Key West. The report provides an overview of the visualization development process as well as a quantitative evaluation of the perceived effectiveness of visualization from both the public and well as design team’s perspective.
HSRC and Florida DOT Look at Issues Associated with the Integration of Visualization into other DOT Processes Dependent Upon Spatial Data
"The Future of Simulation and Modeling in the Florida DOT" (pdf, 323 KB) was an effort funded by the Florida DOT Research Office that addressed issues and potential benefits of integrating those DOT processes dependent upon spatial data (e.g, computer aided design, visualization, geographic information systems, field survey, photogrammetry, etc.)
Visualization Guidance for the Project Engineer
Again, while at HSRC, Dr. Hughes undertook an effort funded by the NCDOT to develop ‘guidance’ (as opposed to guidelines) for the project engineer considering whether or not to incorporate visualization in the project development process. The information contained in the NCDOT report provides project engineers an overview of the major types of visualization applications, illustrative examples of their use, considerations regarding resolution/fidelity, cost, time to development, and expectations as to their effectiveness.
Simulating Pedestrian-Driver Interactions
As part of a National Institutes of Health (NIH) Bio-Engineering Research Partnership between UNC, NCSU, Western Michigan University, Vanderbilt University, Johns Hopkins, and Accessible Design for the Blind, Dr. Hughes led an NCSU team in the development and application of an ability to model key elements of the interaction that takes place between motorists and pedestrians in the context of street crossing. The focus of the overall NIH effort was on the problems experienced by blind and visually impaired pedestrians at complex intersections; in particular, modern roundabouts and continuous flow turn lanes. The NCSU modeling work, which utilized the VISSIM micro-simulation model, permitted the research team to incorporate field data on the gap acceptance attributes of blind and sighted pedestrians into the model for the purpose of evaluating vehicle and pedestrian delay characteristics at single lane roundabouts. The results of the effort were published in the ASCE Journal of Transportation Engineering. View published paper. (pdf, 237 KB)
Field Data on the Gap Detection Performance of Blind and Sighted Pedestrians at a Continuous Right Turn Lane Facility
A joint NCHRP 3-78 / NIH-NEI effort (actually funded by NIH-NEI) provided an opportunity to collect field data on the gap detection performances of blind and sighted pedestrians at two continuous t urn lane facilities in Raleigh and Cary, NC respectively. These data are to be used in the representation of pedestrian crossing attributes in the VISSIM modeling work on NCHRP 3-78. A draft of the NCHRP 3-78 paper (pdf, 237 KB) presented at the 2006 Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board is presented here.
VISSIM Efforts Continuing in Context of NCHRP 3-78
The original NIH work using VISSIM is being continued on NCHRP 3-78, “Crossing Solutions at Roundabouts and Channelized Turn Lanes for Pedestrians with Vision Disabilities.” For this work NCSU has made additional modifications to the VISSIM model that include the capability to vary pedestrian ‘risk’ (the likelihood of taking a ‘risky,’ i.e., too short, gap) as well as the likelihood of drivers yielding to pedestrians. The use of VISSIM on NCHRP 3-78 represents an adjunct to actual operational studies intended to identify and evaluate alternative treatments for improving blind and visually impaired pedestrian ‘access’ to roundabouts and continuous turn lane facilities. Potential treatments to be evaluate will range from static and/or pedestrian-actuated warnings to approaching drivers, the use of cues (e.g, flashers, etc.) to increase the conspicuity of pedestrian presence at the crosswalk, conventional ‘signals,’ alternative signal approaches (e.g., the HAWK signal), as well as the evaluation of ‘distal’ crosswalk locations. NCHRP 3-78 is being closely coordinated with a proposed follow-on to the original NIH work for possible inclusion of more exploratory NIH options (e.g, automated gap and yield detection capabilities) within the domain of treatments to be evaluated.
The Notion of a Real Time, Pedestrian Simulator
While still at HSRC, Dr. Hughes initiated collaborative efforts with researchers at the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) at Texas A&M University in College Station, TX on the concept of a pedestrian simulator. View Pedestrian Simulator Paper (pdf, 371 KB) and visit http://tti.tamu.edu/publications/researcher/newsletter.htm?vol=38&issue=4&article=9 or Pedestrian Simulator Factsheet in pdf (143, KB) for detailed information.
The collaborative effort, which also included individuals from the Texas A&M School of Architecture, focused initially on the ‘requirements’ for such pedestrian ‘simulator’ capability which was to have been build upon an existing vehicle simulator platform (simulator requirements, pdf 119 KB). The notion of a pedestrian ‘simulator’ was seen as a capability for not only supporting pedestrian ‘walk-thrus’ (similar to a vehicle drive-thru or aircraft fly-thru), but also in terms of a capability for the visual simulation (i.e., computer generation) of ‘intelligent pedestrian models’ whose behavior was based upon ‘rules’ generated from the observation of actual pedestrian behavior. The thinking was that if a driving simulator could provide for the interactive presence of pedestrians, then the simulator might be used to study the behavior of drivers exposed to novel intersections (e.g, roundabouts) and the addition of novel pedestrian treatments (e.g, distal crosswalks, signalization for pedestrian crossings, etc.). The notion of the pedestrian simulator did not progress beyond the early conceptual stage, with NCSU turning to more analytic (i.e., VISSIM) applications for the study of vehicle-pedestrian interactions.
Commercial Vehicle Enforcement, Safety, and Security Research Efforts
Information coming soon.
Spatial Data: Research Efforts
Information coming soon. |
