The University of Guelph DRiVE lab (short for Driving Research in Virtual Environments) is a multi-disciplinary research facility that houses both fixed and moving base simulators and brings together faculty researchers from Psychology/Neuroscience (Lana Trick), Engineering (Michelle Oliver) and Computer Science (Andrew Hamilton-Wright, Blair Nonnecke).
Automobile collisions are a leading cause of injury and death in Canada. Not only do collisions cause pain and suffering but they also cost taxpayers millions of dollars every year. The goal of the DRiVE lab is to find ways to reduce collisions by investigating factors that affect crash risk. To accomplish this we use driving simulators. Our Oktal simulator (pictured below) is comprised of a complete car body surrounded by viewing screens that provide a 300o wrap-around virtual environment, and it features high resolution projectors, robust software, realistic simulated environments and a variety of physical feedback systems that provide drivers with the sights, sounds, and some of the sensations of driving while sparing them of the associated risks. We use the simulator to study the impact of in-vehicle technologies (including partial automation), driver distraction, the effects of drugs and alcohol as well as the impact of individual differences, including differences in driver age and experience and driving in at-risk populations such as those with ADHD.
In The News
- Welcome back to former honours student Martin Geraets-Rose is coming back to help us out in the lab as a research assistant. We have all sort of things for him to do this year!
- PhD students Rachel Eng and Jessica Kespe will each be giving poster presentations at the OPAM conference (Object Perception, Attention and Memory pre-conference to Psychonomics) in San Francisco in November 17-19.
- PhD student Mallory Terry will be doing a research practicum in Geneva Switzerland with Dr. Daphne Bavelier this fall.
- PhD student Erika Ziraldo has submitted a paper to be presented at the annual meeting of the Transportation Research Board in Washington, DC (January 2024).
- The annual meeting of the Canadian Society of Brain Behaviour and Cognitive Science was at the University of Guelph this year (July 17-19, 2023), and our lab was well represented; Brooke Pardy, Mallory Terry, Martin Gerates-Rose, Rachel Eng, and Jessica Kespe all gave presentations.
Pictured above are recent PhD graduate Heather Walker from Lana Trick’s lab and Masters of Applied Science graduate in Engineering Brooklin Caren, from Michele Oliver’s lab.
Student Research
Are you interested in joining our lab? There are different ways to join depending on whether you are from Psychology/Neuroscience, Engineering, or Computer Science. For more information click here: Student opportunities.
Collaborate With Us
DRiVE Lab researchers are always interested in working with industry, government, and other research labs. If you are interested in collaborating with us on driving research, please contact moliver@uoguelph.ca, andrew.hamilton-wright@uoguelph.ca, or ltrick@uoguelph.ca.
>To find out more about the features of the DRiVE lab click on this link (Features).
>To find out more about how to contact us click this link (Contact).
>To find out more about the publications and presentations from the DRiVE lab click on these links (Journals, Refereed conference proceedings) and also note the books and conference tabs under the publications tab on the blue bar above).
Pictured above are graduate students Erika Ziraldo, Heather Walker, and Brooklin Caren at the annual meeting of the Canadian Association of Road Safety Professionals held in Sudbury (second, third, and fourth from the left).