Designing Auditory Warning Signals to Improve the Safety of Commercial Vehicles

Based on four studies, this thesis aims to explore how to design auditory warning signals that can facilitate safer driving by operators of heavy goods vehicles. The first three studies focus on the relationships between certain characteristics of auditory warnings and various indicators of traffic safety. A deeper understanding of these relationships would allow system developers to design auditory signals that are better optimised for safety. The fourth study examines the opinions of both vehicle developers and professional drivers regarding warning attributes. One major conclusion is that meaningful warning sounds that are related to the critical event can improve safety. As compared with arbitrarily mapped sounds, meaningful sounds are easier to learn, can improve drivers’ situation awareness, and generate less interference and less annoyance. The present thesis also supports the view that commercial drivers’ initial acceptance of these sounds may be very high. Annoyance is an especially important aspect of warning design to consider; it can negatively influence driving performance and may lead drivers to turn off their warning systems. This research supports the notion that drivers do not consider that negative experience is an appropriate attribute of auditory warnings designed to increase their situation awareness. Also, commercial drivers seem to report, significantly more than vehicle developers, that having less-annoying auditory warnings is important in high-urgency driving situations. Furthermore, the studies presented in this thesis indicate that annoyance cannot be predicted based on the physical properties of the warning alone. Learned meaning, appropriateness of the mapping between a warning and a critical event, and individual differences between drivers may also significantly influence levels of annoyance. Arousal has been identified as an important component of driver reactions to auditory warnings. However, high levels of arousal can lead to a narrowing of attention, which would be suboptimal for critical situations during which drivers need to focus on several ongoing traffic events. The present work supports the notion that high-urgency warnings can influence commercial drivers’ responses to unexpected peripheral events (i.e., those that are unrelated to the warning) in terms of response force, but not necessarily in terms of response time. The types of auditory warnings that will be developed for future vehicles depend not only on advances in research, but also on the opinions of developers and drivers. The present research shows that both vehicle developers and drivers are aware of several of the potentially important characteristics of auditory warnings. For example, they both recognise that warnings should be easy to understand. However, they do disagree regarding certain attributes of warnings, and, furthermore, developers may tend to employ a “better safe than sorry” strategy (by neglecting factors concerning annoyance and the elicitation of severe startled responses) when designing high-urgency warnings. Developers’ recognition of the potentially important attributes of auditory warnings should positively influence the future development of in-vehicle systems. However, considering the current state of research regarding in-vehicle warnings, it remains challenging to predict the most suitable sounds for specific warning functions. One recommendation is to develop a design process that examines the appropriateness of in-vehicle auditory warnings. This thesis suggests an initial version of such a process, which in this case was produced in collaboration with system designers working in the automotive industry

Probing streets and the built environment with ambient and community sensing

Data has become an important currency in todays world economy. Ephemeral and real-time data from Twitter, Facebook, Google, urban sensors, weather stations, and the Web contain hidden patterns of the city that are useful for informing architectural and urban design

'Metarules, judgment and the algorithmic future of financial regulation in the UK

UK financial regulators are experimenting with the conversion of rulebook content into machine-readable and executable code. A major driver of these initiatives is the belief that the use of algorithms will eliminate the need for human interpretation as a deliberative process, and that this would be a welcome development because it will improve effectiveness while cutting time and costs for regulators and the industry alike. In this article, I set out to explain why human interpretation should be preserved and further harnessed if data-driven governance is to work at all. To support my thesis, I bring attention to the limited translatability of rulebook content into code, and to the difficulties for machines to engage with the full spectrum of tasks of analogical reasoning. I further contend that it would be desirable to preserve human interpretation on procedural grounds pertaining to the legitimacy of financial regulators. I conclude with recommendations about the future design of the financial rulebooks

Multi-criteria analysis in transport project evaluation: an institutional approach

We demonstrate that multi-criteria analysis (MCA), though initially developed in the operations research field, can be usefully applied within the context of the stakeholder-driven or institutional approach to transport project evaluation. We first compare the features of the institutional and neoclassical approaches to economic evaluation. We then identify a number of conditions to be fulfilled for the institutional approach to result in a social optimum that is neutral from a distributional perspective. Such an optimum may not have been intentionally pursued, but may eventually arise as a by-product of the actions of self-interested, individual stakeholder groups. We illustrate the relevance of our approach through a number of recent case studies. Policy makers can use our findings as an input for designing formal decision-making processes, geared towards including stakeholder objectives in transport project evaluation

Rulemaking in 140 Characters or Less: Social Networking and Public Participation in Rulemaking

Rulemaking—the process by which administrative agencies make new regulations—has long been a target for egovernment efforts. The process is now one of the most important ways the federal government makes public policy. Moreover, transparency and participation rights are already part of its legal structure. The first generation of federal erulemaking involved putting the conventional process online by creating an e-docket of rulemaking materials and allowing online submission of public comments. Now the Obama administration is urging agencies to embark on the second generation of technology-assisted rulemaking, by bringing social media into the process. In this Article we describe the initial results of a pilot Rulemaking 2.0 system, Regulation Room, with particular emphasis on its social networking and other Web 2.0 elements. Web 2.0 technologies and methods seem well suited to overcoming one of the principal barriers to broader, better public participation in rulemaking: unawareness that a rulemaking of interest is going on. We talk here about the successes and obstacles to social-media based outreach in the first two rulemakings offered on Regulation Room. Our experience confirms the power of viral information spreading on the Web, but also warns that outcomes can be shaped by circumstances difficult, if not impossible, for the outreach effort to control. There are two additional substantial barriers to broader, better public participation in rulemaking: ignorance of the rulemaking process, and the information overload of voluminous and complex rulemaking materials. Social media are less obviously suited to lowering these barriers. We describe here the design elements and human intervention strategies being used in Regulation Room, with some success, to overcome process ignorance and information overload. However, it is important to recognize that the paradigmatic Web 2.0 user experience involves behaviors fundamentally at odds with the goals of such strategies. One of these is the ubiquitousness of voting (through rating, ranking, and recommending) as “participation” online. Another is what Web guru Jacok Neilsen calls the ruthlessness of users in moving rapidly through web sites, skimming rather than carefully reading content and impatiently seeking something to do quickly before they move on. Neither of these behaviors well serves those who would participate effectively in rulemaking. For this reason, Rulemaking 2.0 systems must be consciously engaged in culture creation, a challenging undertaking that requires simultaneously using, and fighting, the methods and expectations of the Web

The Integrated Policy Package Assessment approach: elaborating ex ante knowledge in the feld of urban mobility

BACKGROUND: In response to climate change challenges, a main policy emphasis is on transitioning the energy system from high- to low-carbon energy supply. The German energy transition is first and foremost based on political decisions and interventions. These decisions need to be assessed ex ante to ensure a good governance approach to energy policies, for which this paper introduces the Integrated Policy Package Assessment approach (IPPA). IPPA consists of four steps: design, assessment, evaluation and discourse. RESULTS: The results section illustrates the IPPA framework by applying it to urban passenger transport as an example case. First, the design phase was used to elaborate two complementary policy packages each consisting of several policy measures in the transformation pathways of “multi- and inter-modality”, and “alternative drive”. Second, the individual measures of the packages were impact-analysed by a large number of individual impact studies from various disciplines. Synthesizing the individual study results, we developed an impact assessment matrix for impact evaluation. The matrix covers the impact categories: technology development, sector integration, environment, social resonance, and institutional factors. In a further step, the key findings of the impact assessment were reflected and reviewed from the perspectives of various stakeholders and practice experts through a practice–science dialogue on transforming the urban passenger transport system. CONCLUSIONS: The discussion and conclusion sections outline the main findings relating to content and process aspects, when applying the IPPA framework to a policy package in urban transport

Annual report 2005

Podeu consultar la versió en català a: http://hdl.handle.net/11703/87768Podeu consultar la versió en castellà a: http://hdl.handle.net/11703/8777

Automates: the future of autonomous cars

El futur dels cotxes autònoms sembla brillant, tot i així, personatges com el mateix Elon Musk, entre d'altres, ens porten prometent que serien part de les nostres vides des de fa gairebé deu anys. Tot i això aquí seguim, amb els nostres vehicles que sí, que són genials, però de moment encara no es condueixen sols. Aquestes falses promeses i el concepte de que una màquina condueixi el cotxe per nosaltres encara genera rebuig a la majoria de la població, quan de fet més d'un 90% dels accidents de trànsit avui dia són a causa de l'error humà, i aquestes màquines seran moltes coses, però precisament humanes de moment no són. En aquest projecte s’indaga sobre l’estat actual d’aquests vehicles, que de fet certs serveis de cotxes autònoms ja ronden els carrers d’algunes de les ciutats més grans del món, com ara San Francisco. La clau és descobrir si els vehicles autònoms tenen el potencial real de convertir-se en el servei del futur. Per això, es recorre a les metodologies de Disseny de Futurs, analitzant les tendències del sector i així presentant una sèrie d'Escenaris Futurs. Aquestes metodologies ens permetran entreveure cap on ens porten els desenvolupaments actuals, per així descobrir els passos que hauríem de seguir i els que no per a una correcta i eficient implementació d'aquestes tecnologies en un futur més aviat proper que llunyà.El futuro de los coches autónomos parece brillante, aún así, personajes como el mismísimo Elon Musk, entre otros, nos llevan prometiendo que iban a ser parte de nuestras vidas desde hace ya casi diez años. Sin embargo aquí seguimos, con nuestros vehículos que sí, que son geniales, pero de momento aún no se conducen solos. Estas falsas promesas y el concepto de que una máquina conduzca el coche por nosotros aún genera rechazo en la mayoría de la población, cuando lo cierto es que más de un 90% de los accidentes de tráfico hoy en día son a causa del error humano, y estas máquinas serán muchas cosas pero precisamente humanas no son. En este proyecto se indaga sobre el estado actual de estos vehículos, que de hecho ciertos servicios de coches autónomos ya rondan las calles de algunas de las ciudades más grandes del mundo, como por ejemplo San Francisco. La clave es descubrir si los vehículos autónomos tienen el potencial real de convertirse en el servicio del futuro. Para ello, se recurre a las metodologías de Diseño de Futuros, analizando las tendencias del sector y así presentando una serie de Escenarios Futuros. Estas metodologías nos permitirán vislumbrar hacia dónde nos llevan los desarrollos actuales, para así descubrir los pasos que deberíamos seguir y los que no para una correcta y eficiente implementación de estas tecnologías en un futuro más próximo que lejano.The future of autonomous cars seems bright, even though, famous people like Elon Musk himself, among others, have been making promises around the fact that those cars would be part of our lives for almost ten years, but here we are, with our vehicles that are great, but for now they still don't drive for themselves. These false promises and the concept of a machine driving a car for us still generates rejection in the majority of the population, when the fact is that more than 90% of traffic accidents nowadays are due to human error, and these machines will be sort of things but not humans at all. This project investigates the current state of these vehicles, that in fact these autonomous car services already transit the streets of some of the largest cities in the world, cities like San Francisco. The key is to find out if autonomous vehicles have the real potential to become the service of the future. Therefore, Futures Design methodologies are used, analysing the trends of the sector and thus presenting a series of Future Scenarios. These methodologies will allow us to understand where current developments are leading us, so then we can understand the steps that we should follow as a society and those that we should not for a correct and efficient implementation of these technologies in the near future