SAMSON: Simulation supported traffic training environment

Since the publication of the first FTIR multi-touch interaction system [1], the public attention for the field of Single Display Groupware (SDG) has been rising constantly. Lately, former SDG systems with multi-interaction capabilities like DiamondTouch [2], reacTable [3], or Microsoft Surface [4] have been followed by promising systems, i.e. ThinSight [5] and MightyTrace [6]. The latter integrate their tracking technology into commercial liquid crystal displays (LCD), and thus drastically reduce the space requirements. Some recently published work [7] also conveys a trend to support industrial-oriented tasks as systems like BUILDIT [8] did some time ago. We present a traffic training simulator concept based on discrete event simulation to ensure realistic traffic behavior, adequate visualization, and a user centered interaction concept on an SDG system to support training activities for policemen. Within this environment, policemen are able to train their behavior and the adequate choices under different traffic situations much like other professionals train their standard procedures, e.g. pilots in a flight simulator. Such a training environment will give the possibility to learn offline about important characteristics of intersections based on historical data like system stability, incident handling, or additional improvement potential.