Does Information on Automated Driving Functions and the Way of Presenting It before Activation Influence Users’ Behavior and Perception of the System?

Information on automated driving functions when automation is not activated but is available have not been investigated thus far. As the possibility of conducting non-driving related activities (NDRAs) is one of the most important aspects when it comes to perceived usefulness of automated cars and many NDRAs are time-dependent, users should know the period for which automation is available, even when not activated. This article presents a study (N = 33) investigating the effects of displaying the availability duration before&mdash versus after&mdash activation of the automation on users&rsquo activation behavior and on how the system is rated. Furthermore, the way of addressing users regarding the availability on a more personal level to establish &ldquo sympathy&rdquo with the system was examined with regard to acceptance, usability, and workload. Results show that displaying the availability duration before activating the automation reduces the frequency of activations when no NDRA is executable within the automated drive. Moreover, acceptance and usability were higher and workload was reduced as a result of this information being provided. No effects were found with regard to how the user was addressed. Document type: Articl

Sustainability, transport and design: reviewing the prospects for safely encouraging eco-driving

Private vehicle use contributes a disproportionately large amount to the degradation of the environment we inhabit. Technological advancement is of course critical to the mitigation of climate change, however alone it will not suffice; we must also see behavioural change. This paper will argue for the application of Ergonomics to the design of private vehicles, particularly low-carbon vehicles (e.g. hybrid and electric), to encourage this behavioural change. A brief review of literature is offered concerning the effect of the design of a technological object on behaviour, the inter-related nature of goals and feedback in guiding performance, the effect on fuel economy of different driving styles, and the various challenges brought by hybrid and electric vehicles, including range anxiety, workload and distraction, complexity, and novelty. This is followed by a discussion on the potential applicability of a particular design framework, namely Ecological Interface Design, to the design of in-vehicle interfaces that encourage energy-conserving driving behaviours whilst minimising distraction and workload, thus ensuring safety

A DATA-DRIVEN APPROACH TO SUPPORTING USERS’ ADAPTATION TO SMART IN-VEHICLE SYSTEMS

The utilization of data to understand user behavior and support user needs began to develop in areas such as internet services, smartphone apps development, and the gaming industry. This bloom of data-driven services and applications forced OEMs to consider possible solutions for better in-vehicle connectivity. However, digital transformation in the automotive sector presents numerous challenges. One of those challenges is identifying and establishing the relevant user-related data that will cover current and future needs to help the automotive industry cope with the digital transformation pace. At the same time, this development should not be sporadic, without a clear purpose or vision of how newly-generated data can support engineers to create better systems for drivers. The important issue is to learn how to extract the knowledge from the immense data we possess, and to understand the extent to which this data can be used.Another challenge is the lack of established approaches towards vehicle data utilization for user-related studies. This area is relatively new to the automotive industry. Despite the positive examples from other fields that demonstrate the potential for data-driven context-aware applications, automotive practices still have gaps in capturing the driving context and driver behavior. This lack of user-related data can partially be explained by the multitasking activities that the driver performs while driving the car and the higher complexity of the automotive context compared to other domains. Thus, more research is needed to explore the capacity of vehicle data to support users in different tasks.Considering all the interrelations between the driver and in-vehicle system in the defined context of use helps to obtain more comprehensive information and better understand how the system under evaluation can be improved to meet driver needs. Tracking driver behavior with the help of vehicle data may provide developers with quick and reliable user feedback on how drivers are using the system. Compared to vehicle data, the driver’s feedback is often incomplete and perception-based since the driver cannot always correlate his behavior to complex processes of vehicle performance or clearly remember the context conditions. Thus, this research aims to demonstrate the ability of vehicle data to support product design and evaluation processes with data-driven automated user insights. This research does not disregard the driver’s qualitative input as unimportant but provides insights into how to better combine quantitative and qualitative methods for more effective results.According to the aim, the research focuses on three main aspects:•\ua0\ua0\ua0\ua0\ua0 Identifying the extent to which vehicle data can contribute to driver behavior understanding.\ua0 •\ua0\ua0\ua0\ua0\ua0 Expanding the concepts for vehicle data utilization to support drivers.•\ua0\ua0\ua0\ua0\ua0 Developing the methodology for a more effective combination of quantitative (vehicle data-based) and qualitative (based on users’ feedback) studies. Additionally, special consideration is given to describing the drawbacks and limitations, to enhance future data-driven applications

Is the driver ready to receive just car information in the windshield during manual and autonomous driving?

A automação está a mudar o mundo. Como na aeronáutica, as empresas da indústria automóvel estão atualmente a desenvolver veículos autónomos. No entanto a autonomia do veículo não é completa, necessitando por vezes das ações do condutor. A forma como é feita a transição entre condução manual e autónoma e como mostrar esta informação de transição para o condutor constitui um desafio para a ergonomia. Novos ecrãs estão a ser estudados para facilitar estas transições. Este estudo usou um simulador de condução para investigar, se a informação em realidade aumentada pode influenciar positivamente a experiência do condutor durante a condução manual e autónoma. Compararam-se duas formas de apresentar a comunicação ao condutor. Um “conceito AR” mostrou toda a informação no para-brisas para ser mais fácil o condutor aceder à informação. O “conceito IC” mostrou a informação que aparece atualmente nos carros, usando o painel de instrumentos e o e-HUD. Os resultados indicam que a experiência do utilizador (UX) é influenciada pelos conceitos, sendo que o “conceito AR” teve uma melhor UX em todos os estados de transição. Em termos de confiança, os resultados revelaram também valores mais elevado para o “conceito AR”. O tipo de conceito não influenciou nem o tempo nem o comportamento de retomar o controlo do carro. Em termos de situação consciente, o “conceito AR” deixa os condutores mais conscientes durante a disponibilidade e ativação da função. Este estudo traz implicações para as empresas que desenvolvem a próxima geração de ecrãs no mundo automóvel.Automation is changing the world. As in aviation, the car manufacturers are currently developing autonomous vehicles. However, the autonomy of that vehicles isn’t complete, still being needed in certain moments the driver on ride. The way how is done this transition between manual and autonomous driving and how show this information to the driver is a challenge for Ergonomics. New displays are being studied to facilitate these transitions. This study used a driving simulator to investigates, whether augmented reality information can positively influence the user experience during manual and autonomous driving. Therefore, we compared two ways of present the communicate to the driver. The “AR concept” displays all the information in windshield to be easier to the driver access to the information. The “IC concept” displays the information that appears nowadays in the cars, where they use the Instrument Cluster and the e-HUD to display information. Results indicate that the user experience (UX) is influence by concepts, where “AR concept” had better UX in all the states. In terms of confidence, the results revealed higher scores in “AR concept” too. The type of concept does not influence the takeover times or the behavior of take control. In terms of situational awareness (SA), “AR concept” leave the drivers more aware during availability and activation. This study provides implications for automotive companies developing the next generation of car displays

Human Factors Considerations in System Design

Human factors considerations in systems design was examined. Human factors in automated command and control, in the efficiency of the human computer interface and system effectiveness are outlined. The following topics are discussed: human factors aspects of control room design; design of interactive systems; human computer dialogue, interaction tasks and techniques; guidelines on ergonomic aspects of control rooms and highly automated environments; system engineering for control by humans; conceptual models of information processing; information display and interaction in real time environments