Last week, the WIVW welcomed a nine-member delegation from Singapore. HTX Singapore, ST Engineering, and the National University of Singapore learned about the expertise we have built up over many years in the field of human factors motorcycle research and the design and operation of a dynamic motorcycle simulator. The applications of innovative and continuously developed technologies and research tools in the field of powered two-wheelers will evolve significantly beyond their current state in the foreseeable future. Through interdisciplinary collaboration between human factors, engineering, and computer science, we are striving to achieve precisely this. In addition, our guests were able to experience the latest developments in SILAB Driver Education & Training (Emergency) and teleoperation for themselves on our driving simulators.

Last Saturday, the Freiwillige Feuerwehr FFW Veitshöchheim (Volunteer Fire Department) celebrated its 160th anniversary.

As a local company, WIVW naturally supports volunteer work for our community. This gratitude was expressed during the celebrations with the presentation of a voucher for emergency driving training on WIVW's driving simulators. With SILAB Driver Education and Training (DET) Emergency, emergency services can safely and specifically train the skills necessary to cope with demanding and risky situations when driving with special privileges. While driver safety training on the test track allows participants to experience the limits of driving physics, simulator training with DET Emergency focuses on developing anticipatory driving strategies and raising awareness of the behavior of other road users. Volunteer fire departments without full-time personnel can also benefit from the advantages of controlled and flexible training. The latest video report from FERNFAHRER magazine provides vivid insights into simulator training for emergency services.

Here's to another 160 safe years with FFW Veitshöchheim!

How can the temporary involvement of the passenger of a highly automated vehicle be designed to cope with critical scenarios at system limits?

The complexity of urban traffic poses major challenges for highly automated vehicles. In difficult situations, the passenger could be temporarily involved at short notice to bridge system limits of automation. However, it is important that the passenger's involvement in such difficult situations does not increase the risk of a critical situation. A driving simulator study therefore investigated two cooperative strategies with different degrees of involvement: low involvement (holding a button to continue driving) and high involvement (complete takeover of control with steering wheel and pedals). The results show that the strategy with high involvement led to more critical situations, including accidents. In contrast, the strategy with low involvement was rated better by participants, especially in terms of perceived safety, control, and comfort. The study provides valuable insights into the safety and control of cooperative systems and raises questions about the optimal level of temporary human involvement.

The study was published in the journal Applied Ergonomics and is freely available here until July 5, 2025. It was conducted as part of the INITIATIVE project, which was funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action.

After three years of research, the WIVW together with eleven other project partners from industry, science, software development and infrastructure, presented the results of the research and development project ATLAS-L4 (Automated Transport between Logistics Centers on Expressways at Level 4) on May 7th and 8th 2025.

It was impressively demonstrated that the project goal of developing an autonomously driving truck (level 4) for transportation between logistics hubs on expressways has been achieved.

In addition to driving demonstrations on the grounds of the ADAC Mobility Test Center in Penzing and on the freeway (with live broadcasting to the event), around 200 guests were able convince themselves of the project results at an exhibition covering approx. 1,000 square meters as well as in scientific presentations.

The WIVW gave a presentation on “Teledriving Simulation as a Research Tool - the Effects of Uplink and Downlink Latency on Remote Driving” and showed its teleoperation simulator in the exhibition area. This teleoperation workstation, coupled with the driving simulation in SILAB, enables remote control of a virtual truck, so that interested guests could experience teleoperation for themselves.

As part of a project commissioned by the Forschungsvereinigung Automobiltechnik e.V. (FAT), the WIVW investigated “Measures for building and maintaining situational awareness in the context of automated driving”.

The project examined exemplary measures with regard to their effectiveness in either maintaining an appropriate level of situation awareness (especially at SAE level 2) or restoring it in good time (especially at SAE level 3). After a detailed literature analysis and evaluation of previously investigated measures from various areas (e.g., HMI concepts, cooperative concepts, training concepts, driver monitoring concepts), two measures were selected for each automation level L2 and L3 and investigated in a simulator study.

At L2 and L3 comparably, this was a situation-specific display concept. At level 2 in addition, a concept for the situation-adaptive adjustment of warning thresholds of the driver monitoring system was investigated. At level 3, an approach was investigated that issues situation-dependent and DMS-controlled monitoring requests instead of takeover requests. The two variants were each compared with a basic variant defined according to current regulations.

The final report has now been published and can be accessed here.