Periodic Reporting for period 1 - ImmerDrive (Virtual IMMERsion for DRIVEr training and evaluation)
Reporting period: 2017-02-01 to 2017-05-31
Every 25 seconds someone dies on the World’s roads. Only in Europe more than 30,000 fatal traffic accidents occur per year.
By using simulators for training, novice drivers can get familiar with operating a vehicle and following traffic regulations in a safer environment, hence providing a less stressful experience. Professional drivers can be trained for specific company needs, new or foreign traffic regulations, and use of specific in-vehicle information systems. Furthermore, insurance companies can use driving simulators to increase driver’s awareness and improve their policyholders’ driving habits resulting into lesser insurance claims.
The objective of this project is to provide affordable driving evaluation and training services with ImmerDrive. We want to contribute to improving the abilities of new drivers, increase the efficiency of existing ones, and improve road safety in general.
By using simulators for training, novice drivers can get familiar with operating a vehicle and following traffic regulations in a safer environment, hence providing a less stressful experience. Professional drivers can be trained for specific company needs, new or foreign traffic regulations, and use of specific in-vehicle information systems. Furthermore, insurance companies can use driving simulators to increase driver’s awareness and improve their policyholders’ driving habits resulting into lesser insurance claims.
The objective of this project is to provide affordable driving evaluation and training services with ImmerDrive. We want to contribute to improving the abilities of new drivers, increase the efficiency of existing ones, and improve road safety in general.
We performed a market study considering the potential number of drivers and services associated with driver evaluation and training that ImmerDrive can offer. The results from the competitor analysis are encouraging, since we did not find a direct competitor that offers a comparable holistic service such us ours. We also used this period to consolidate the collaboration with existing partners and customers and performed a Business model study to evaluate the profitability and scalability of each of the created models. After the analysis of the IP, we verified the FTO for our driving simulator. Finally, we estimated the budget and the next actions required for implementation of this project in a period of 2 years and launch commercial operation as of 2020.
Our low cost high fidelity driving simulator consists of advanced simulation technologies that provide a realistic driving experience, and algorithms for data analysis used for driver evaluation and creation of customized individual training sessions. Thanks to ImmerDrive, drivers will get an insight of their weaknesses, and will be offered training tailored for their specific needs. After assessing the market, we have confirmed that there is a big interest from key stakeholders (insurance companies and professional drivers) representing a worldwide market opportunity of 5 billion Euros. Reducing the number of road accidents will also reduce billions of Euros in healthcare and insurance claims, and most importantly, will contribute to saving thousands of lives.