A dynamic binaural synthesis system for investigation into situational awareness for truck drivers

Yearly, a number of accidents happen, where cyclists are injured by right turning trucks. In Denmark, the proposed solution has been to provide a higher number of mirrors to the truck driver in order to cover visual blind spots. However, this doesn’t seem to eliminate the problem. Investigations into the reason for this point to cognitive phenomena such as change blindness, where more visual information won’t help. For other professional vehicle operators such as pilots, auditory solutions adding to a higher situational awareness has proven valuable.
This paper describes the development of a dynamic binaural synthesis system for investigation into situational awareness for truck drivers. The system is built around several software components enabling the 3D positioning of an auditory representation of a bicycle. The sound is played back over headphones to the truck driver whose head movements are monitored and taken into account in the binaural sound synthesis. To enable experiments in real traffic, the system facilitates an operator interface where the investigator can position the auditory objects according to real bicycles appearing in the traffic.
The software is organized in a number of modules communicating over a network protocol (UDP) enabling distribution on several hardware devices. The modules are: Graphical user interface, head tracking server, truck tracking, and binaural synthesis module.
The function of the individual modules as well as overall topology of the system will be presented, and initial practical experience with the system used in real driving situations will be discussed.