Ruffner, J. W., Piccione, D. P., & Woodward, K. (1997, April). Development of a night driving simulator concept for night vision image intensification device training. In Proceedings of the Enhanced and Synthetic Vision Conference, SPIE 11th Annual International Symposium on Aerospace/Defense Sensing, Simulation, and Controls, Orlando, FL, Vol 3088, pp. 190-197.
Contact
Information:
DCS POC: Dr. John W. Ruffner (ext 243) jruffner@dcscorp.com
Kim G. Woodward (ext 388) kwoodwar@dcscorp.com
Phone number:
(703) 683-8430 FAX number: (703) 836-6509
Address:
DCS Corporation, 1330 Braddock Place, Alexandria, Virginia 22314
Abstract:
The use of night vision devices (NVDs) by US Army foot soldiers, aviators, and drivers of combat and tactical wheeled vehicles has enhanced operations at night by allowing increased mobility and potentially safer operations. With this increased capability in the night environment has come an increased exposure to the hazards of that environment and the risks that the command structure must manage and balance with mission requirements. Numerous vehicular accidents have occurred during night field exercises involving drivers wearing image intensification (IČ) systems. These accidents can be frequently be attributed to perceptual problems experienced by the drivers. Performance with NVDs generally increases with practice and experience. However, there is little formal training provided in night driving skills and few opportunities to practice these skills under realistic conditions. This paper reports the approach and preliminary results of an effort to define and demonstrate a low-cost Night Driving Simulator (NDS) concept for training night driving skills with IČ devices and to identify and evaluate the techniques and resources that are available for implementing this approach.