Driver training usually takes place on quiet streets, and at most progresses to highways in normal conditions—but you’d never have the experience of learning to control a car spinning on ice or skidding off the road.
Now Austria’s national motor vehicle association and Samsung have teamed up on an app that will use virtual reality technology to allow students to experience the most dangerous situations on the road, safely in the classroom.
It will also allow modeling of forbidden behavior, such as texting while driving or talking on a phone, so they can see how dangerous that can be. A study in 2015 by the association found that 76% of drivers distracted by their mobiles were unable to react in time to stop an accident.
The new program will be tested later this year at eight driving schools, and is expected to help train 15,000 new drivers. Eventually, it’s expected to become part of all driver training in Austria.
Photo: Samsung’s Virtual Reality MWC 2016 Press Conference/Wikimedia
