Building Virtual Driving Environments From Computer-Made Projects

The virtual environments used in scientific driving simulation experiments require extensive 3D models of road landscapes, correctly modeled and similar to those found in the real world. The modeling task of these environments, addressing the terrain definition and the specific characteristics required by the target applications, may result in a complex and time-consuming process. This chapter presents a procedural method to model large terrain definitions and adjust the roadside landscape to produce well-constructed road environments. The proposed procedural method allows merging an externally modeled road into a terrain definition, providing an integrated generation of driving environments. The road and terrain models are optimized to interactive visualization in real time, by applying most state-of-art techniques like the level of detail selection and spatial hierarchization. The proposed method allows modeling large road environments, with the realism and quality required to perform experimental studies in driving simulators.