A user study of directional tactile and auditory user interfaces for take-over requests in conditionally automated vehicles

Abstract

General introduction of unconditionally and conditionally automated vehicles is expected to have a highly positive impact on the society, from increased accessibility to mobility and road traffic safety, to decreased environmental and economic negative impacts. However, there are several obstacles and risks slowing down the adoption of this technology, which are primarily related to the human–machine interaction (HMI) and exchange of control between the vehicle and the human driver. In this article, we present key takeaways for HMI design of take-over requests (TOR) that the vehicle issues to inform the driver to take over control of the vehicle. The key takeaways were developed based on the results of a user study, where directional tactile-ambient (visual) and auditory-ambient (visual) TOR user interfaces (UI) were evaluated with regards to commonly used take-over quality aspects (attention redirection, take-over time, correct interpretation of stimuli, off-road drive, brake application, lateral acceleration, minimal time-to-collision and occurrence of collision). 36 participants took part in the mixed design study, which was conducted in a driving simulator. The results showed that drivers’ attention was statistically significantly faster redirected with the auditory-ambient UI, however using the tactile-ambient UI resulted in less off-road driving and slightly less collisions. The results also revealed that drivers correctly interpreted the directional TOR stimuli more often than the non-directional one. Based on the study results, a list of key takeaways was developed and is presented in the conclusion of the paper. The results from this study are especially relevant to the TOR UI designers and the automotive industry, which tend to provide the most usable UI for ensuring safer end efficient human-vehicle interaction during the TOR task.