Recently, vehicle simulators are widely used to evaluate driver's responses and driver assistance systems. It needs much effort to construct the virtual driving environment for a vehicle simulator. In this study, it is described how to make effectively the roads and the driving environment for a vehicle simulator. The GIS (Geographic Information System) is used to construct the roads and the environment effectively. Because the GIS is the integrated system of geographical data, it contains useful data to make virtual driving environment. First, the outline and centerline of roads is abstracted from the GIS. From the road outline, the road width is calculated. Using the centerline, the grid model of roads is constructed. The final graphic model of roads is constructed by mapping road image to the grid model according to the number of lanes and the kind of surface. Data of buildings from the GIS are abstracted. Each shape and height of buildings is determined according to kind of buildings, the final graphic model of buildings is constructed. Then, the graphic model of roadside tree is also constructed. Finally, the driving environment for driving simulator is constructed by converting the three graphic models with the graphic format of Direct-X and by joining the three graphic models.
