Autonomous vehicle interactions in the urban street environment: A research agenda

© ICE Publishing 2018. All rights reserved. The Venturer project is trialling an autonomous vehicle (AV) in the context of use on urban roads. This paper summarises a literature review undertaken to assist in developing a research agenda for the trialling. The first contribution of the paper is a framework of four use scenarios for AVs as follows: (1) fully segregated AV network, (2) motorway or expressway network, (3) typical urban network, (4) shared space. The paper then focuses on a review of the social interactions in the street environment and discusses issues concerning human behaviour in relation to autonomy. The second contribution of the paper is a set of research questions for AV trialling in relation to other road users, including, pedestrians and cyclists, which have emerged from the literature review.

Transforming Cars into Computers: Interdisciplinary Opportunities for HCI

Road and highway infrastructures are being transformed in anticipation of self-driving vehicles. During the transition to fully autonomous road networks people and driverless cars will interact with each other in mixed traffic situations. Vehicles are currently equipped with two types of communication devices one auditory (a horn) and the other visual (signalling lights). In many instances, human drivers use these devices in combination with embodied interaction such as eye contact and gesture when communicating with other road users. Hence, horn and signalling devices currently in use may not be enough to communicate with others in traffic settings; especially when driverless vehicles become responsible for the main driving activity. Driverless vehicles require new interaction types that support Human-AV interaction in an easy to understand and intuitive way. With the transformation of cars into computers new opportunities for research present themselves to the HCI community

Symptoms of visual discomfort from automobile lights and their correlation with headache in night-time taxi drivers

This study examined how modern vehicle lights affect night-time taxi drivers and the relationships any effects have with headache. Sixty-eight drivers were asked about their perception of flicker, blurring, seeing double, smearing, glare, blinding, unease, discomfort, pain and headache/migraine from vehicle lights when driving at night. Participants were asked specifically about light emitting diodes, but responses may have included their experiences with other vehicle light types. Glare was the greatest problem, and red braking lights were worse than white lights around headlights. The headache group experienced greater problems, particularly for discomfort, pain, unease, flickering, seeing double and triggered headaches. Further research is needed as these effects pose potentially dangerous scenarios for all night-time road users, especially given the increased use of bright, directional light emitting diodes on vehicles and on roadsides