Coupling instrumented vehicles and driving simulators: Opportunities from the DRIVE IN2 project

DRIVE IN² is an automotive research project within the field of Intelligent Transportation Systems, especially Advanced Driving Assistance Systems (ADAS). The project originates from the idea that the development of new ADAS and evaluation of their effect have to take drivers into account, as well as their behavior while driving: the benefits of adopting new in-vehicle technologies depend also on their adoption and usage by drivers. To this aim, the project develops a Driver-In-the-Loop framework to position observation of the drivers at the center of the research activities. Observations are carried out by coupling different research tools, namely instrumented vehicle and driving simulators. The premise and methodological framework of the research project are presented and discussed. Some preliminary activities with particular reference to validating the driving simulation environment are also described.