Accelerating autonomous vehicle safety through Real-Time Immersive virtual reality gaming simulations

•VR gaming engines enable safer AV assessment.•Immersive simulations augment physical testing.•Iterative evaluation of hazardous scenarios.•Highly customizable virtual testing environments.•Scalable and ethical simulation-based testing. Although autonomous vehicles (AVs) have great potential for improving traffic safety, several questions about their practicality persist. Although it is crucial, doing tests on the road may be risky and costly. An easier, quicker, and less expensive option is to use virtual reality (VR) driving simulators. In this research, we investigate how virtual reality (VR) game simulations may speed up the process of validating the safety of AVs. We suggest building complex dynamic environments using consumer VR game engines to put AVs through their paces. Thanks to the physics modelling and real-time rendering features, you can test your car in realistic conditions. We review the advantages of conventional testing methods, including quickly iterating environments, assessing potentially dangerous edge situations, scaling effectively, and saving money. Additionally, our method enables programmers to collect information and opinions from big groups of real drivers via online games. We draw attention to unanswered questions concerning data-driven simulation adaptation, variability modelling, and fidelity. Achieving thorough, quick, and ethical safety validation has never been more feasible than using game-inspired VR simulations, significantly because the development of AVs is exceeding physical testing. This technique can potentially speed up the safe deployment of autonomous functions by making high-quality simulation more accessible to a broader audience.