Methodology to assess safety effects of future Intelligent Transport Systems on railway level crossings

There is consistent evidence showing that driver behaviour contributes to crashes and near miss incidents at railway level crossings (RLXs). The development of emerging Vehicle-to-Vehicle and Vehicle-to-Infrastructure technologies is a highly promising approach to improve RLX safety. To date, research has not evaluated comprehensively the potential effects of such technologies on driving behaviour at RLXs. This paper presents an on-going research programme assessing the impacts of such new technologies on human factors and drivers’ situational awareness at RLX. Additionally, requirements for the design of such promising technologies and ways to display safety information to drivers were systematically reviewed. Finally, a methodology which comprehensively assesses the effects of in-vehicle and road-based interventions warning the driver of incoming trains at RLXs is discussed, with a focus on both benefits and potential negative behavioural adaptations. The methodology is designed for implementation in a driving simulator and covers compliance, control of the vehicle, distraction, mental workload and drivers’ acceptance. This study has the potential to provide a broad understanding of the effects of deploying new in-vehicle and road-based technologies at RLXs and hence inform policy makers on safety improvements planning for RLX

Thermal in-car interaction for navigation

In this demonstration we show a thermal interaction design on the steering wheel for navigational cues in a car. Participants will be able to use a thermally enhanced steering wheel to follow instructions given in a turn-to-turn based navigation task in a virtual city. The thermal cues will be provided on both sides of the steering wheel and will indicate the turning direction by warming the corresponding side, while the opposite side is being cooled

Exploitation of haptic renderings to communicate risk levels of falling

Falls represent a major cause of injury that could lead to death. This observation is even more accentuated in the elderly. Indeed, with aging comes some deterioration (gait disturbances, balance disorders, and sensory motor impairments) that may lead to falls. The research project presented in this thesis is focused on the problem of reducing the risk level of falling. This study proposes a solution for the communication of haptic information to reduce the risk of falling. This solution is part of the design of a haptic communication system in a controlled environment. This new system introduces the notion of haptic perception through the communication of information by touch using the foot, which the literature does not generally mention. For the design of this system, we first studied the use of tactile stimuli to evaluate the possibility of communicating a risk level through a haptic modality. Then, having hypothesized that some factors could influence the communication of stimuli representing the risk levels of falling, we conducted a second study to evaluate the effect of auditory disturbances during the communication of these stimuli. Third, to determine whether the user had the necessary time to act after the perception of the risk level, we analyzed a variation of the simple reaction time when walking on different types of soil. These results encouraged us to do a fourth assessment of reaction time using a new device coupled with a smartphone that can be positioned at different locations on the body. Several experiments have been done to validate each of the steps. With this, we can now communicate a risk level of falling to users through the haptic channel using an active device and easily differentiable stimuli. In addition, we can evaluate auditory factors during such a haptic perception. Finally, we can evaluate the physiological characteristics of the users (response time) while seated and while walking on different types of soil. Les chutes représentent une cause majeure de blessures pouvant entraîner la mort. Cette observation est encore plus accentuée chez les personnes âgées. En effet, avec le vieillissement, certaines détériorations (troubles de la démarche, troubles de l’équilibre, troubles sensorimoteurs) peuvent entraîner des chutes. Le projet de recherche présenté dans cette thèse fait partie du problème de la réduction du risque de chute. En particulier, cette étude propose une solution au problème de la réduction du risque de chute par la perception haptiques. Cette solution intègre la conception d’un système de communication haptique dans un environnement contrôlé. Ce nouveau système introduit la notion de perception haptique à travers la communication de l’information par le toucher avec le pied, que la littérature ne mentionne généralement pas. Pour cela nous avons d’abord étudié l’utilisation de stimuli tactiles pour évaluer la possibilité de communiquer un niveau de risque par la modalité haptique. Puis, ayant émis l’hypothèse que certains facteurs pourraient influencer la communication de ces stimuli, nous avons mené une deuxième étude pour évaluer l’impact des perturbations auditives lors de la perception haptique du niveau de risque. Troisièmement, afin de savoir si l’utilisateur avait le temps nécessaire pour agir après la perception du niveau de risque, nous avons analysé la variation du temps de réaction simple en marchant sur différents types de sols. Les résultats obtenus dans cette dernière étude nous ont motivé à faire une quatrième évaluation du temps de réaction mais en utilisant un nouveau dispositif couplé à un smartphone qui peut être positionné à différents endroits du corps. Plusieurs expériences ont été réalisées pour valider chacune des étapes. Avec toutes ces études, nous pouvons maintenant communiquer aux utilisateurs un niveau de risque à travers le canal haptique en utilisant un dispositif actif et des stimuli facilement différentiables. En outre, nous pouvons évaluer les facteurs externes (auditifs) au cours d’une telle perception haptique. Enfin, nous pouvons évaluer les caractéristiques physiologiques des utilisateurs (temps de réponse) en position assise et en marchant sur différents types de sols

Tactile Displays for Pedestrian Navigation

Existing pedestrian navigation systems are mainly visual-based, sometimes with an addition of audio guidance. However, previous research has reported that visual-based navigation systems require a high level of cognitive efforts, contributing to errors and delays. Furthermore, in many situations a person’s visual and auditory channels may be compromised due to environmental factors or may be occupied by other important tasks. Some research has suggested that the tactile sense can effectively be used for interfaces to support navigation tasks. However, many fundamental design and usability issues with pedestrian tactile navigation displays are yet to be investigated. This dissertation investigates human-computer interaction aspects associated with the design of tactile pedestrian navigation systems. More specifically, it addresses the following questions: What may be appropriate forms of wearable devices? What types of spatial information should such systems provide to pedestrians? How do people use spatial information for different navigation purposes? How can we effectively represent such information via tactile stimuli? And how do tactile navigation systems perform? A series of empirical studies was carried out to (1) investigate the effects of tactile signal properties and manipulation on the human perception of spatial data, (2) find out the effective form of wearable displays for navigation tasks, and (3) explore a number of potential tactile representation techniques for spatial data, specifically representing directions and landmarks. Questionnaires and interviews were used to gather information on the use of landmarks amongst people navigating urban environments for different purposes. Analysis of the results of these studies provided implications for the design of tactile pedestrian navigation systems, which we incorporated in a prototype. Finally, field trials were carried out to evaluate the design and address usability issues and performance-related benefits and challenges. The thesis develops an understanding of how to represent spatial information via the tactile channel and provides suggestions for the design and implementation of tactile pedestrian navigation systems. In addition, the thesis classifies the use of various types of landmarks for different navigation purposes. These contributions are developed throughout the thesis building upon an integrated series of empirical studies.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo