VIEW 2.0: Direct Vision Assessment System

Vehicle blind zone awareness is critical to the safety of all road users, whether they are in the driver's seat or outside the vehicle. Vehicles contribute to an alarming pedestrian and cyclist safety crisis, and there is an annual increase in injuries and fatalities. Our SCOPE team collaborated with the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center, the Santos Family Foundation, and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) to reinvent VIEW, a blind-zone measurement tool for vehicles and a crowd-sourced database of blind-zones created by the 2017-2018 SCOPE team. We assessed and implemented a new method to calculate blind zones using LiDAR, which decreased errors by over 85% and increased data collection efficiency. In addition, we reevaluated the previous user experience of the site navigation and data collection to create a new site with improved usability. Our new site integrates the LiDAR method, displays a database of vehicle blind zones, and provides key information about direct vision. VIEW 2.0 will be used to help design, select, and deploy safer vehicles, demonstrating the importance of direct vision for traffic safety involving vulnerable road users. 

Faculty Advisor:

• Lynn Andrea Stein

Team Members:

• Gabby Blake
• Myles Lack-Zell
• Claire Hashizume
• Alex Matsoukas
• Benjamin Morris