Investigation of Thermal Stimuli for Lane Changes

Haptic feedback has been widely studied for in-car interactions. However, most of this research has used vibrotactile cues. This paper presents two studies that examine novel thermal feedback for navigation during simulated driving for a lane change task. In the first, we compare the distraction and time differences of audio and thermal feedback. The results show that the presentation of thermal stimuli does not increase lane deviation, but the time needed to complete a lane change increased by 1.82 seconds. In the second study, the influence of variable changes of thermal stimuli on the lane change task performance was tested. We found that the same stimulus design for warm and cold temperatures does not always elicit the same results. Furthermore, variable alterations can have different effects on specified tasks. This suggests that the design of thermal stimuli is highly dependent on what task result should be maximized

Thermal feedback for simulated lane change scenarios

Most research into haptic feedback for in-car applications has used vibrotactile feedback. In this article, two simulator studies investigate novel thermal feedback during driving for a lane change task. The distraction and time differences of audio and thermal feedback were investigated in the first, with results showing that thermal feedback does not increase lane deviation, but the time to completed lane change is 1.82s longer in the thermal than the audio condition. The second experiment explored the difference in variable changes of the thermal stimuli on the recognition rate and false positive recognition at the return to the neutral temperature. Variable alterations can have different effects on these tasks and are not mirrored for the directions of temperature change. This suggests that the design of thermal stimuli is highly dependent on what result should be maximized: recognition rate or minimal additional changes at the return to the neutral temperature

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

Haptic Navigation Cues on the Steering Wheel

Haptic feedback is used in cars to reduce visual inattention. While tactile feedback like vibration can be influenced by the car's movement, thermal and cutaneous push feedback should be independent of such interference. This paper presents two driving simulator studies investigating novel tactile feedback on the steering wheel for navigation. First, devices on one side of the steering wheel were warmed, indicating the turning direction, while those on the other side were cooled. This thermal feedback was compared to audio. The thermal navigation lead to 94.2% correct recognitions of warnings 200m before the turn and to 91.7% correct turns. Speech had perfect recognition for both. In the second experiment, only the destination side was indicated thermally, and this design was compared to cutaneous push feedback. The simplified thermal feedback design did not increase recognition, but cutaneous push feedback had high recognition rates (100% for 200 m warnings, 98% for turns)

Haptic Feedback for the Transfer of Control in Autonomous Vehicles

Vehicles offering autonomous features need effective methods for transferring the control from the driver to the vehicle and back. While most research focuses on presenting information the driver might need after retaking control, our study investigates ways to improve the process of transferring control itself. We investigated multimodal feedback with and without haptics and visuals in a simulator study. Results showed that visual and haptic feedback improved driving during handover. Subjective ratings described multimodal feedback without visual as more disruptive than with the visual feedback included. Furthermore, ratings showed a preference for including visual and haptic feedback. These results lead us a step closer to a safe, clear and accepted control transfer process between driver and vehicle

Purring Wheel: Thermal and Vibrotactile Notifications on the Steering Wheel

Haptic feedback can improve safety and driving behaviour. While vibration has been widely studied, other haptic modalities have been neglected. To address this, we present two studies investigating the use of uni- and bimodal vibrotactile and thermal cues on the steering wheel. First, notifications with three levels of urgency were subjectively rated and then identified during simulated driving. Bimodal feedback showed an increased identification time over unimodal vibrotactile cues. Thermal feedback was consistently rated less urgent, showing its suitability for less time critical notifications, where vibration would be unnecessarily attention-grabbing. The second study investigated more complex thermal and bimodal haptic notifications comprised of two different types of information (Nature and Importance of incoming message). Results showed that both modalities could be identified with high recognition rates of up to 92% for both and up to 99% for a single type, opening up a novel design space for haptic in-car feedback

RadioMe: Adaptive Radio to Support People with Mild Dementia in Their Own Home

People with dementia and their carers are experiencing a complicated and highly personal health journey. The RadioMe system, an adaptive live radio system enriched with reminder possibilities and agitation detection and intervention with personalised calming music, is being developed to support people with mild dementia in their own home. RadioMe is an ongoing, interdisciplinary project, combining expertise on dementia, music therapy, music computation and human computer interaction

RadioMe: Adaptive Radio with Music Intervention and Reminder System for People with Dementia in Their Own Home

The population of the world is continuously growing older, leading to more people with dementia who need support while living in their own home. Our RadioMe system was designed to adapt a live radio stream with reminders and music intervention for agitation mitigation for people with dementia living in their own home. In this demonstration we present our prototype, with features to record reminders and schedule them to be played during the live radio stream and a music intervention system when agitation is detected

Investigation of thermal feedback for in-car applications

Abstract not currently available