DriveSimQuest: A VR Driving Simulator and Research Platform on Meta Quest with Unity

TL;DR

DriveSimQuest is a versatile VR driving simulator built on Meta Quest Pro and Unity, enabling comprehensive behavioral data collection for driving behavior research and assistance system development.

Contribution

It introduces a portable, easy-to-deploy VR platform capable of capturing detailed behavioral signals beyond eye movements.

Findings

Supports real-time capture of gaze, facial expressions, hand activities, and gestures.

Facilitates research on driver affective states and behaviors.

Aids in designing context-aware driving assistance systems.

Abstract

Using head-mounted Virtual Reality (VR) displays to simulate driving is critical to studying driving behavior and designing driver assistance systems. But existing VR driving simulators are often limited to tracking only eye movements. The bulky outside-in tracking setup and Unreal-based architecture also present significant engineering challenges for interaction researchers and practitioners. We present DriveSimQuest, a VR driving simulator and research platform built on the Meta Quest Pro and Unity, capable of capturing rich behavioral signals such as gaze, facial expressions, hand activities, and full-body gestures in real-time. DriveSimQuest offers a preliminary, easy-to-deploy platform that supports researchers and practitioners in studying drivers' affective states and behaviors, and in designing future context-aware driving assistance systems.