Volvo develops Ultimate Driving Simulator to improve safety
November 27 2020,
Volvo continues to find innovative ways to improve safety in its vehicles. Earlier this month, the automaker dropped its cars from a 30-metre crane to see how they hold up to extreme impacts, and now Volvo is turning to advanced video game technology to test its cars in a variety of driving situations without having to head out on the road.
Volvo has built quite the setup, using a moving driving seat, a haptic feedback steering wheel and a virtual reality headset, creating a digital environment that’s almost impossible to discern from the real thing.
The system uses cutting-edge technology to create a virtual environment where 3D graphics recreate different driving situations to test not only safety, but also driver assistance and autonomous driving features. In other words, Volvo can create different interfaces and features, and see how the driver would react to that situation.
“Working together with great companies like Varjo, Unity and Teslasuit has allowed us to test so many scenarios that look and feel totally real, without having to physically build anything,” says Casper Wickman, senior leader of User Experience at Volvo’s Open Innovation Arena. “It lets us test drive actual cars in through traffic scenarios that look and feel real, but can be adjusted at the touch of a button.”
