Case Study

Driving Distraction Simulator

The Organisation

The Road Safety Commission holds the responsibility of reducing road trauma on WA’s roads through harnessing the knowledge, expertise and interest in our community.

Through a Road Safety Advisory framework, the Commission collaborates with a diverse range of interests from the private sector, government agencies and the community, which enable input into policy and initiatives to be researched, developed or implemented.

The Commission’s aim is to support the state government’s road safety strategy, Towards Zero 2008-2020, and achieve a 40% reduction in people who are killed or seriously injured in crashes on metropolitan and regional roads.

Project | Driving Distraction Simulator

The Driving Distraction Simulator is a simulation game designed for Virtual Reality and was commissioned by the West Australian Road Safety Commission.

The purpose was to provide a fun installation exhibit for their position at the Perth Royal Show in 2016. They wanted to be the first state government department to show off a VR simulator and the message about showing how easy it is to be dangerously distracted it is while driving.

The Challenges

Stirfire had a very hard deadline three months to deliver a road safety simulation for Perth Royal Show 2016.
The simulation had to provide a fun, playable experience in VR, making good use of steering wheel and pedal peripherals to enhance the immersion.
Every aspect of gameplay had to be designed carefully because the tight timeframe allowed little space for iteration.
Aspects included: the key goal of showing how easily drivers can get distracted; methods of tracking distractions, using input from the VR headset and peripherals to show where the driver’s attention was directed; deliver the appropriate types of distractions, such as mobile phones, sale signs, ice cream trucks etc.
The Road Safety Commission had very specific parameters regarding what could be shown in terms of accidents. No harmful crashes or injury were to be shown, but the simulation had to use subtler methods to communicate the road safety message effectively.

The Solution

A very targeted approach was used to articulate the core concept and design game play within a tight time frame. Particular attention was given to the driving experience to make the controls as responsive and realistic as the project would allow.

Stirfire tested hardware solutions to give the simulation great visual impact and to ensure each of the devices required to play interacted smoothly with one another.

Stirfire successfully delivered the simulation game within budget and timeframe.

Results: We achieved the wow-factor that the RSC was hoping for. VR continues to attract many curious first time users, providing a large, willing audience for the RSC’s message about the impact that little distractions can have on driving ability. Stirfire also provided metrics on how many distractions were measured, using feedback gathered through the headset and controllers.

Results

We achieved the wow-factor that the RSC was hoping for. VR continues to attract many curious first time users, providing a large, willing audience for the RSC’s message about the impact that little distractions can have on driving ability. Stirfire also provided metrics on how many distractions were measured, using feedback gathered through the headset and controllers.