Cycling Simulation in Virtual Reality for Autonomous Vehicle Traffic Scenarios

The term vulnerable road users (VRU) refers to those at higher risk when in traffic. VRUs are usually unprotected while in motion and will sustain greater injuries in vehicular collisions, or potentially fatalities. In this group, pedestrians and cyclists therefore have a lower chance of survival in accidents when compared to other road users, and are likely to suffer sub-stantial implications from autonomous vehicle (AV) deployments. Hence, it is crucial to focus on their safety. First, a taxonomy of categories of common cyclist-vehicle traffic scenarios is defined for development and re-creation within a simulator. A virtual reality (VR) cycling simulator framework, populated with AVs, is then described. It is proposed for the VR simulator to be used to study the cyclists' behavior and actions towards simulations of a future traffic environment involving encountering AVs in various road scenarios.