Augmented Riding: Multimodal Applications of AR, VR, and MR to Enhance Safety for Motorcyclists and Bicyclists

Operating two-wheeled vehicles in four-wheel-dominant environments presents unique challenges and hazards to riders, requiring additional rider attention and resulting in increased inherent risk. Emerging display and simulation solutions offer the unique ability to help mitigate rider risk–augmented, mixed, and virtual reality (collectively extended reality; XR) can be used to rapidly prototype and test concepts, immersive virtual and mixed reality environments can be used to test systems in otherwise hard to replicate environments, and augmented and mixed reality can fuse the real world with digital information overlays and depth-based sensing capabilities to enhance rider situational awareness. This paper discusses the use of multimodal applications of XR and integration with commercial off the shelf components to create safe riding technology suites. Specifically, the paper describes informal and formal research conducted regarding the use of haptic, audio, and visual hazard alerting systems to support hands-on, heads-up, eyes-out motorcycle riding, as well as the use of an immersive mixed reality connected bicycle simulator for rapidly and representatively evaluating rider safety-augmenting technologies in a risk-free environment.