BARRACUDA: An augmented reality display for increased motorcyclist en route hazard awareness

Abstract

Motorcyclists face a unique set of challenges when operating on public streets and highways. In addition to hazards relevant to automobiles, motorcycle riders must remain vigilant for hazards that pose significant danger uniquely to motorcycles (e.g., uneven terrain, sand/gravel, potholes); however, there is currently no motorcycle-specific hazard tracking or alerting system available for riders. To address this need, Charles River Analytics is designing a system for Bayesian Assessments and Real-Time Rider Alerting and Cueing for Upcoming Danger Avoidance (BARRACUDA). BARRACUDA will capture and integrate relevant information from an array of public databases and on-motorcycle and environmental sensors. It will fuse this information and apply advanced probabilistic models and reasoning techniques to generate route-based real-time hazard alerts (presented with a trip planning application prior to departure and an augmented reality (AR) heads-up display (HUD) while en route), even when operating on uncertain or incomplete information, to increase rider situation awareness. This effort was funded under a US Dept. of Transportation SBIR Phase I contract (DTRT5715C10063).