JLR uses virtual eyes on driverless pods for pedestrian trust trials

According to JLR, 63 per cent of pedestrians have reservations about road safety when autonomous vehicles become more prevalent. Engineers from the carmaker have been working with cognitive psychologists to study how people interact at pedestrian crossings. Specifically, they are looking at how drivers indicate that they are stopping and it is safe to cross, as well as the confidence pedestrians receive once this intention is given.

To replicate that interaction in the absence of a driver, engineers from JLR’s Future Mobility division equipped driverless pods with virtual eyes. The intelligent pods run autonomously on a fabricated street scene at Aurrigo’s Urban Driving Laboratory in Coventry, while the behaviour of pedestrians is analysed as they wait to cross the road. The pods seek out the pedestrian - appearing to look directly at them - signalling to road users that it has identified them, and intends to take avoiding action.