After a number of years of using actual in-car video footage to present the Hazard Perception part of the driving theory test, the DSA (Driving Standards Agency) are now in consultation to revamp these clips by using state-of-the art CGI (Computer Generated Images) versions.
I believe the reasoning behind this is that by using CGI, it will be both safer than trying to capture actual hazard situations developing in a real world environment, as well as providing the DSA with unlimited options in regards to the on-road situations they can create.
Having viewed a couple of early examples which have been released into the public domain, I must say that even though they do look quite impressive, I’m personally not in favour of these – even though I can appreciate they’re currently very much in their infancy at this stage.
In my opinion, I feel that no matter how good these image sequences are, they are ultimately not going to be representative of the real life situations that drivers’ face every day – it would be very difficult to recreate realistically things such as shadows, reflections in windows and depth of gradient etc. – all of which form part of the information picture that drivers use to anticipate the actions of others.
For me, aside from actually placing the student driver in the drivers’ seat of an actual moving vehicle, an updated series of clips using real in-car footage would work best.
These are simply my own opinions on the matter of course . . . maybe it’s just me!
You can check out the a sample clip and judge for yourself by following the link below –
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1LxpWVEtik&list=PLFBDFFC77BEB33781&index=1&feature=plpp_video
Just a thought – could the potentially clearer, less cluttered image sequences make the test easier?
It will certainly be interesting to see if the proposed CGI clips have an influence on the current theory test success rate . . .
Chris
Chris Chambers School of Motoring
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