VISUAL ASSISTANCE FOR DRIVERS BY MIIXED REALITY Yoshinari Kameda, Itaru Kitahara, and Yuichi Ohta Graduate School of Information and Engineering, University of Tsukuba 1-1-1 Tennoudai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan. {kameda,kitahara,ohta}@iit.tsukuba.ac.jp Abstract This paper describes our extensive research results of visual assistance for drivers based on mixed reality and discusses the technical advantages of our research framework. These include utilization of roadside cameras, development of windshield display, error-free image processing system, vision enhancement by mixed reality, and evaluation in real traffic environment. Our approaches concentrate on providing the best visual clues that can be understood intuitively and instantly for driver’s vision while driving. We have already proposed novel visual assistance methods based on these research frameworks, research results of which include a virtual mirror and a virtual slope. INTRODUCTION Security and safety in traffic are crucial considerations in the ITS literature. We believe that the security and safety of drivers can be promoted not by utilizing fully automated systems that take over full control of the car maneuvers, but by improving drivers’ ability with intelligent assistance systems. Among various driver assistance methods, vision-based assistance is useful because it can convey rich information to drivers. We have been developing novel visual assistance methods for deployment on driving vehicles for a number of years. Two outstanding features of our approach in hardware are the utilization of windshield display (WSD) and utilization of roadside cameras. The WSD is a key device showing rich visual information to drivers because it does not require the driver to move their line of sight markedly while watching the displayed information. In addition, with mixed reality techniques, the visual clues shown in WSD can be aligned to the real world that the driver actually sees. External video images taken by roadside cameras are processed and fit to the driver’s vision by the mixed reality technique, which is recognized as very useful in the 14th World Congress of ITS 2007/10/9-13, Beijing,