4 teams shine in Seoul's Virtual Autonomous Driving Challenge

Teams participating in the Seoul Virtual Autonomous Driving Challenge compete in virtual reality controling autonomous vehicles. Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Government

Out of 24 teams from across the country, four were honored in the Seoul Virtual Autonomous Driving Challenge showcasing autonomous driving technology within an online virtual reality world.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government, in collaboration with the Korea Transportation Safety Authority (TS) and technology companies such as Naver Cloud, Naver Labs, and MORAI, organized the competition.

The top position was secured by the Phoenix team from Chungbuk National University, followed by the Vilab team from Kookmin University in second place. The third position was claimed by the AMSL team from Gachon University, and the All Right team from Yeungnam University rounded up the winners.

This inaugural competition aimed to foster the advancement of future technology in Seoul, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Government.

The competition involved starting autonomous vehicles simultaneously within the Sangam autonomous vehicle pilot zone, which was implemented as a virtual reality world. Sangam-dong in western Seoul's Mapo District is known as a pilot zone for autonomous taxis and buses in the real world.

Teams were tasked with completing various missions and were ranked based on the time taken to reach their destinations.

A wide range of virtual scenarios, mirroring real-world challenges, were included in the game. These scenarios encompassed tasks such as finding the shortest routes, changing lanes, adhering to traffic signals, avoiding unexpected and illegal parking and high-speed driving.

Notably, high-speed driving, which is challenging to conduct in actual road environments due to safety concerns, and driving under varying weather conditions, were part of the competition, creating a diverse range of environments for the teams to contend in.

Including the four winning teams, all five teams that reached the finals will receive preferential consideration in hiring processes at Naver Labs.

Starting with this year's competition, the Seoul Metropolitan Government intends to contribute to technological development by establishing a virtual reality environment for autonomous driving.