Vulnerable Road User Protection through Intuitive Visual Cue on Smartphones

Abstract

As vehicle communication standards mature, protecting vulnerable road users (VRUs) using vehicle communication technology is looming as a promising and useful application. The current vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P) communication as stipulated by the standard such as SAE J2735 implies that it is mainly the vehicles that take the responsibility for VRU protection. In this VRU protection framework, user devices are essentially beacons that transmit Personal Safety Messages (PSMs). Upon receiving these PSMs, the drivers (or autonomous vehicles) take necessary measures to protect them. We, however, believe that the road users could also use the information about nearby vehicles to avoid dangerous situations. This paper discusses how the most distracted road user type, i.e., smartphone users, can use the Basic Safety Messages (BSMs) from nearby vehicles to notice approaching danger and take appropriate defensive actions. We build a complete prototype based on the IEEE Wireless Access in Vehicular Environment (WAVE) standards, and demonstrate how it can be used by pedestrians to notice imminent danger even while they are gazing at the smartphone screen.