Driver Monitoring Systems: Design Considerations for Aging Drivers

Abstract

A number of automotive manufacturers including General Motors and Tesla offer vehicles with advanced semi-autonomous driving functions that the driver is expected to monitor. Monitoring by the human driver is essential given that these systems are known to have difficulty handling driving situations that human drivers negotiate easily. The human operator must, however, adjust to this new supervisory role of monitoring system operations rather than traditional driving. Additionally, drivers may trust the automation too much, believing the systems are more capable than they are and not actively monitor the operation of the semi-autonomous systems. This belief may be engendered by the use of terms like “self-driving” or “drive pilot” in vehicle marketing materials. In response to these concerns, automotive manufacturers have developed driver monitoring system(s) (DMS) that assesses the driver’s attentional engagement in the driving process and alerts them when it determines they are not attending to the vehicle’s operation. Driver attention is assessed by monitoring their eye-gaze direction, head pose, steering wheel torque input, and facial action units. During the aging process, there are many changes in perceptual, cognitive, and musculoskeletal systems that may not have been addressed in the design of the DMS. An example of these limitations include hearing or vision impairments, which could make perceiving warnings presented by the DMS more difficult. The potential limitations of DMS will be discussed, as well as ideas for future research, which encourages consideration of older adults in interface design and discusses trends in technology adoption by older adults.