Design of virtual platoon control system using augmented reality to assist welfare vehicle users

Recently, welfare vehicles are widely used among the elderly and the aged. However, it is not easy for inexperienced aged to control the welfare vehicle in narrow places such as elevators and narrow corridors. In this paper, driving assistance system for the welfare vehicle which is maneuverable by Augmented Reality (AR) is proposed. In addition, the proposed control system is assessed by trial runs. In the system, the cognitive ability from the objective view point is enhanced by AR. First, the virtual platoon control is outlined with a virtual preceding vehicle and a real following vehicle. The driver rides on the following vehicle and controls using the virtual preceding vehicle on Head Mounted Display(HMD). The virtual preceding vehicle projected on a HMD steered virtually with an objective viewpoint, and the real vehicle is robust controlled so as to follow the virtual preceding vehicle. Finally, the experimental driving in narrow space using proposed assistance system with AR is evaluated by beginners and a expert user.