A Real Bicycle Simulator in a Virtual Reality Environment: The FIVIS Project

For almost all modern means of transportation (car, train, airplane) driving simulators exist that provide realistic models of complex traffic situations under defined laboratory conditions. For many years, these simulators have been successfully used for drivers’ training and education and have considerably contributed to the overall road safety. Unfortunately, there is no such advanced system for the bicycle, although the number of bike accidents has been increasing against the common trend during the last decade. Hence the objective of this project is to design a real bicycle simulator that is able to generate any desired traffic situation within an immersive visualization environment. For this purpose the bike is mounted onto a motion platform with six degrees of freedom that enables a close-to-reality simulation of external forces acting on the bike. This system is surrounded by three projection walls displaying a virtual scenario