As an autnomous car weaves its way around a test track, navigating a roundabout, avoiding other vehicles and a simulated child, researchers in remote locations are monitoring the test scenarios they created using virtual reality and other technologies.

That demonstration Monday at Mcity, on the University of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor, Mich., was made possible by a $5.1 million investment by the National Science Foundation (NSF) in the world’s first purpose-built test facility for connected and autonomous vehicles to create Mcity 2.0…

Basically, the new capabilities provided by the NSF’s funding allows researchers across the U.S. to create simulated scenarios to test connected and autonomous vehicles on an physical track using virtual reality software, accessing the results remotely via the cloud.