A study found that adding 'eyes' to self-driving cars could prevent traffic accidents.



According to the Daily Mirror report in the UK on the 27th (local time), a research team led by Professor Takio Igarashi of the University of Tokyo in Japan said that by attaching 'eyes' to the front of an autonomous vehicle, pedestrians can actively recognize the dangers of the vehicle. 



These 'eyes' on the front of the cart are equipped with sensors and cameras, which are operated by dual motors and recognize the movement of pedestrians and make eye contact with the pedestrians in front of them as if they were a real driver.



As the discussion about the spread of autonomous vehicles continues, there have been constant voices concerned about safety, such as that it is difficult to prepare for unexpected situations such as pedestrians suddenly jumping out of the road, which could lead to serious accidents.



In response, a research team at the University of Tokyo in Japan conducted a simulation to see how safety of pedestrians would be affected by attaching 'eyes' to the front of an autonomous vehicle named 'gazing car'. 



The experiment was conducted in virtual reality (VR) with 18 local people (9 males and 9 females), and the participants were asked to pass in front of a golf cart with snow and a golf cart without snow.



Enlarging an image

Enlarging an image

As a result of the experiment, the majority of participants said that they felt more 'safe' when making eye contact with a car with eyes. 



It has also been shown that pedestrians crossed the road in an efficient manner by looking at the snow when passing in front of snowed golf carts.



Professor Igarashi said, "Although not enough research has been done on the interaction between autonomous vehicles and pedestrians, we expect that by adding 'eyes' to future autonomous vehicles, all pedestrians will be able to cross the road safely and efficiently. "He said. 



However, he added that further research is needed to increase the effectiveness of this study because it was conducted through simulation for safety reasons.  



(Photo = 'AdonisChang' YouTube)