Free Driving Simulator: Lane Change Test

Day 2.5 of the Gordon Research Conference for Eye Movement: It's a funny thing how I'm reaching into my Human Factors and Ergonomics bag of tricks and experiences, as I listen and relate to my fellow conference attendees. One particularly special exchange brought me back to my grad school days, when I was studying telematics and driving distraction...which is a academic's way of saying, "stuff you use while driving."

After this researcher shared her substantial and horrifying, confounding woes with her driving simulator, I looked up the driving simulator that I'd used for my grad thesis/project, the Lane Change Test (LCT).

The LCT was developed through Daimler-Chrysler, and at the time of my grad studies, there was talk of this test becoming an ISO standard for testing. I haven't double-verified this, but I think it is in fact an ISO standard. The basic LCT works by tasking the user with making lane changes in response to signs that appear alongside the road as the driver drives down an empty autobahn. The trajectory and speed of each lane change is compared to a normed course, in order to act as a gauge as to the degree of driver distraction.

The LCT is still alive, and by the looks of it, thriving, as they have following distance, cityscapes, the ability to track following distance, signs, eye tracking, Oculus integration, and much more.

The (FREE!) LCT helped me get through grad school, and I highly recommend using it. Check it out: https://www.opends.eu/home

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