VIRTUAL-REALITY APPLIED TO TRAFFIC ACCIDENT ANALYSIS

This paper presents an application of virtual reality techniques to tr affic accident analysis. The paper shows the features of the developed software and the characteristics of the corresponding virtual environ ment: objects, tasks, behaviors, actions, etc. Physical models used to define the real behavior of the objects involved in the accident are also described. A specific collision model is presented. This model re produces the forces that appear in a traffic accident. Some considerat ions on further applications of this work are also presented, includin g its use in a network environment, including the WWW. Finally, a case study is introduced. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserv ed.