VR safety campaign gives students realistic car crash experience

[Another example of using VR and presence for the public good; this story (which reads like a press release) is from The Hemming Fire website; the VF4 website identifies the four main causes of deaths of young drivers addresses in the road safety VR project as “using a mobile phone, not wearing a seatbelt, being under the influence of drink or drugs, [and] speeding.” A 1:22 minute video report is available on YouTube. –Matthew]

Students experiencing VF4 360 road safety campaign

[Image: Source: The Hinckley Times]

Leicestershire FRS adopts VR headsets to provide young drivers with a car crash experience

Published:  22 July, 2016

Samsung Electronics has announced that its Samsung Gear VR headsets will be used as part of Leicestershire Fire and Rescue’s Virtual Fatal Four 360 (VF4 360), the UK’s first road safety virtual reality project.

VF4 360 is one of Samsung’s first VR projects for the public sector, a uniquely innovative virtual reality safety experience using the latest Samsung Gear VR technology, designed to give young motorists the most realistic experience of a road traffic collision from the driver’s perspective.

Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service approached Samsung as the brigade wanted to communicate its road safety programme in a brand new and deeply engaging way to school children. The VF4 360 Experience is an evolution of a previous initiative – the most advanced car crash simulator in the UK, the Virtual Fatal 4 (VF4). The VF4 360 uses six minutes of content, offering the user a VR experience that highlights, in the most realistic way possible, the dangers young drivers face on the road. Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service hopes to allow over 12,000 students a year to experience the VF4 360 simulator and to put them through the associated Fatal Four road safety talks.

The VF4 360 Experience has already received a considerable amount of positive feedback from users, with 90% claiming that they would take fewer risks on the roads thanks to participating in the simulation and 80% saying that they prefer this type of VR communication tool to deliver such a powerful safety message.

Samsung’s Gear VR and S6 smartphones will enable large groups of young drivers to experience consequences of The Fatal Four, providing much wider access to the experience than in previous programmes. VF4 360 will also be showcased in a forthcoming Channel Four documentary called ‘Behind The Blue Lights’ and has recently generated media coverage, including BBC Breakfast, and BBC Radio 1.

Paul Speight, Watch Manager for Road Safety, Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service, said: ‘VR has the potential to help us meet the challenges of road safety education in a hugely exciting and engaging new way. Thousands of young British drivers and school children will now be able to access the most fully immersive road safety experience we’ve developed. Thanks to the Samsung Gear VR technology, we are now able to communicate an incredibly powerful safety message, offering users a Fatal Four experience that is as close to real-life as possible.’

Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service launched VF4 360 to 160 road safety practitioners from the blue light services and road safety officers from councils and agencies, and has since been showcasing the film and VR equipment to services in West Yorkshire, Bedfordshire, Staffordshire and across Wales to give a presentation and demonstration of the film and the VR equipment.

‘We are proud to be working with Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service on this innovative new safety initiative, which clearly proves both the potential educational and socially beneficial uses of virtual reality. We helped the service to deploy its innovative Virtual Fatal Four 360 project and our whole team is very impressed with the results,’ said Suzanne Homewood, head of enterprise at Samsung. ‘Using virtual reality technology to engage young people in this way is to be commended, particularly with such an important message around road safety. It’s clear that Leicestershire students have been blown away by the impact of the video on the Galaxy Gear VR and the unique way the service has been able to convey their safety campaign.

‘The possibilities for using VR in these types of innovative, impactful safety and educational initiatives are endless. Since the VF4 360 content has been released, for example, we know that the fire and rescue service has received strong interest from other public sectors across the country, including the police and ambulance services.’

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