Abstract
Most countries have active road safety policies that seek the objective of reducing deaths in traffic accidents. One of the main factors in this regard is the awareness of the safety measures, one of the most important being the correct usage of the seat belt, a device that is known to save thousands of lives every year. The presented work shows a VR-enhanced edutainment application designed to increase awareness on the use of seat belts. For this goal, a motorized rollover system was developed that, synchronized with a VR application (shown in a head-mounted display for each user inside a real car), rolls over this car with up to four passengers inside. This way, users feel the sensations of a real overturn and therefore they realize the consequences and the results of not wearing a seat belt. The system was tested for a month in the context of a road safety exhibition in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, one of the leading countries in car accidents per capita. More than 500 users tested and assessed the usefulness of the system. We measured, before and after the rollover experience, the perception of risk of not using the seat belt. Results show that awareness regarding the use of seat belts increases very significantly after using the presented edutainment tool.
Highlights
The three-point seat belt was invented by Nils Ivar Bohlin, a Swedish Volvo mechanical engineer, in 1959
The results show that the serious game (SG) could enhance road safety awareness and social responsibility
The system was installed in a road safety awareness campaign in Dammam, Saudi
Summary
The three-point seat belt was invented by Nils Ivar Bohlin, a Swedish Volvo mechanical engineer, in 1959. Technological evolution has brought about new methods to develop campaigns with the objective to increase awareness on seat belt usage (with aims to achieve 100% usage) In this regard, serious games and educational entertainment (edutainment) applications have become very effective tools at raising awareness in various areas, not just for road safety [6]. The application has a playful appearance, and the virtual scene is setup as an entertainment car simulator, the rollover simulator gives car occupants the unpleasant sensation of being in an overturned vehicle This is expected to cause that users immediately understand that wearing a seat belt is a serious matter, increasing their awareness in the use of the seat belt, which is the objective of the application.
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