Ford Motor Company upgrades VIRTTEX Simulator

Developed nearly 10 years ago to assess in-car distractions from driver cell phone usage, Ford Motor Company recently upgraded its VIRTTEX Simulator with Barco SIM 7Q projectors to test next-generation collision avoidance systems. The Virtual Test Track Experiment (VIRTTEX) Simulator now provides enhanced image rendering capabilities for use in testing active safety features for its automobiles.

In concert with Blue Newt Software's image generation and software development tool kits, Barco's solution delivers an extremely realistic car-driver simulation to assist in Ford's development of a collision avoidance system. The new “active safety” driver assistance system will be designed to alert vehicle operators of an imminent collision. The simulator will test a variety of visual, auditory, and haptic (tactile) signals proposed as part of an early warning system, capturing driver behavior data from experiments to determine which types of alerts elicit the quickest responses.

The VIRTTEX simulator features a spherical dome mounted on a hydraulic system to duplicate vehicle movement. Seven Barco SI 7Q QXGA LCoS projectors comprise a display system that covers a 360-degree horizontal and 45-degree vertical field-of-view (FOV), mounted to a mechanical structure on the Ford motion base. The projectors surround the driver to display scenery, terrain, and various traffic situations synched to the test car's acceleration, braking and steering functions.