Immersive AR/VR learning to enhance pedestrian safety

Pedestrian injuries remain one of the leading causes of death among children in the United States and globally. Safe crossing behavior depends on cognitive and perceptual skills such as attention, hazard recognition, and gap judgment that are still maturing in younger populations. Traditional classroom instruction offers limited opportunities to practice these skills in realistic traffic contexts, highlighting the need for controlled, repeatable, and engaging training environments that can bridge the gap between knowledge and real-world decision making. This project develops, tests, and disseminates an integrated Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) learning platform designed to improve pedestrian safety among children. The immersive simulator replicates crosswalks, intersections, and near-miss zones identified through the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) crash database and the DC Traffic Safety Data Portal. VR modules enable users to experience controlled crossings at high-risk intersections, while AR modules project digital traffic cues and guidance into real environments through tablets or mobile devices. Three-dimensional environments are constructed in the Unity or Unreal Engine platform and configured for both mobile devices and VR headsets to support flexible deployment across educational settings. The methodology proceeds through four tasks: scenario design using DDOT crash data and Vision Zero reports to identify high-risk child pedestrian corridors, prototype development of immersive environments with realistic vehicle motion, environmental conditions, and compliant signal timing, controlled evaluation sessions with K-12 and university participants to assess realism, usability, and learning effectiveness, and dissemination including open-source release, a collaborative workshop with DDOT and school partners, and preparation of a deployment-ready package with simulation files, user manuals, and integration guides. Success is measured by improvements in hazard detection, gap judgment, and safe crossing decisions, with a target of at least 30 percent gain relative to baseline performance. The project also provides initial estimates of the number of crashes and injuries that could potentially be avoided if the toolkit were adopted more broadly in Washington, D.C.

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $87,000.00
• Contract Numbers:

  69A3552348323

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

  University Transportation Centers Program
  Department of Transportation
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Managing Organizations:

  Howard University

  2400 6th Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20059
• Project Managers:

  Bruner, Britain

• Performing Organizations:

  Howard University

  2400 6th Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20059
• Principal Investigators:

  Marin, Claudia

• Start Date: 20260202
• Expected Completion Date: 20261231
• Actual Completion Date: 0
• USDOT Program: University Transportation Centers Program

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Augmented reality; Children; Pedestrian movement; Pedestrian safety; Safety education; Virtual reality
• Geographic Terms: Washington (District of Columbia)
• Subject Areas: Education and Training; Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01978546
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Research and Education for Promoting Safety (REPS) University Transportation Center
• Contract Numbers: 69A3552348323
• Files: UTC, RIP
• Created Date: Feb 3 2026 3:36PM