Waymo built a virtual driver to study how humans react to surprises on the road Waymo has a lot of experience building virtual systems to help its autonomous ve
Waymo has developed a virtual human driver, named ReD (Reference Driver), to enhance the safety of its autonomous vehicles. This system models human driving behavior, particularly how people anticipate and react to unexpected situations, using a neuroscientific concept called active inference. By simulating a careful and competent human driver's decision-making process, Waymo aims to improve accident avoidance and establish a scientifically grounded method for evaluating the safety of autonomous systems. The company plans to make the ReD model open-source under an academic license to foster industry-wide collaboration. AI
IMPACT Establishes a new benchmark for evaluating autonomous vehicle safety by modeling human-like proactive avoidance and reaction to surprise.