The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments wanted a more engaging way to raise awareness around pedestrian and cyclist safety in the Washington, DC region. Building on the success of a similar concept developed by CM&D in Texas, the project was designed to help young drivers better understand the real-world scenarios where pedestrians and bicyclists are most often injured or killed on local roadways.
CM&D created a safety-focused VR activation that blends real-world 360 video with interactive virtual reality, allowing users to experience high-risk driving situations from the driver’s perspective. The experience was designed to create a stronger sense of presence than traditional campaign materials by placing participants directly inside the scenario and asking them to actively identify and respond to potential hazards.
To strengthen the realism of the activation, the virtual driving experience was synchronized with a real physical vehicle (stationary) used on site, creating a more immersive and memorable experience for event participants. The final program delivered strong public engagement, supported multi-year use, and gave the client a more interactive way to bring roadway safety education into community settings.
The Goal:
Create a public-facing safety training experience that helps young drivers become more aware of pedestrians and bicyclists in real-world roadway conditions. The broader goal was to turn an important but often overlooked public safety message into an activation people would actually stop, try, and remember.
Our Approach:
CM&D approached the project with a focus on realism, accessibility, and campaign effectiveness. The experience needed to feel engaging enough to attract event participants while still delivering a serious public safety message. By blending live-action 360 environments with interactive VR, we created an experience that made roadway awareness more immediate, more memorable, and easier to understand from the driver’s point of view.
Key elements of the project included:
