PRESS RELEASE

XPI simulation is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a contract to develop the integrated software for an advanced driving simulator for the UK Home Office Scientific Development Branch (HOSDB).

The system will be used to simulate emergency response and pursuit situations for police advanced drivers. HOSDB will initially study the effectiveness of various methods of assessing performance and the best approach to continuous training.

Fast and safe driving puts the police driver under a high level of stress yet the driver is still expected to make rapid, accurate decisions. For this reason the simulator must replicate real situations with a high fidelity.

The simulator comprises a real car with modified controls and provides an all-round view of the scene. The police driver could be in a town centre, a country road or a motorway when asked to respond to an emergency call or to pursue another car being driven dangerously. Other vehicles in the scene manoeuvre intelligently and have differing responses to the onset of police sirens.

Alan Davenport of XPI Simulation said “XPI is committed to the development of driving simulators as a means of raising the standard of driving in the UK and making our roads safer. We are excited by this project as it pushes technology to the limits and needs innovative new techniques which are acceptable to advanced drivers. We expect much of this will transfer to benefit new drivers as driving simulators grow in popularity over the next few years”

A spokesman for HOSDB said:

“The public expects a very high standard from police drivers and the simulator system being developed will provide an effective environment for some aspects of police driver training. The system has been designed taking system fidelity and cost into account and will be used to assess the effectiveness of the use of vehicle simulators in the role of police driver training”

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