Mirage events & driver haptic steering alerts in a motion-base driving simulator: A method for selecting an optimal HMI

Vibration warning design for reaction time reduction under the environment of intelligent connected vehicles

Scenario-based warnings for road safety can be provided in the environment of intelligent connected vehicles via Bluetooth earphones or smart wristbands; designing an optimal means of presentation to drivers is an important point of consideration. Vibration warnings have been widely studied owing to their unique benefits. This experimental study aims to identify suitable body parts for vibration warnings during driving. The independent variables were the vibration position (three levels of stimulus, i.e., wrist, shin, and upper jaw) and response effector (two levels, i.e., hand and foot). Experiment Tasks 1 and 2 measured participants' simple reaction time and choice reaction time, respectively, when providing vibration warnings in non-driving situations. The results demonstrate that the vibration on the upper jaw has the shortest simple reaction time and choice reaction time. The effect of stimulus-response consistency on choice reaction time was insignificant. Task 3 was similar to Task 2, with the exception of simulated driving. Compared to the result in Task 2, the choice reaction time in Task 3 was approximately 200 ms longer. Vibration of the upper jaw was reported to have the highest perceived intensity and preference. Based on the study results, the design implications for wearable vibration warnings of collision avoidance systems are presented.

Assessment of Drivers' Perceptions of Connected Vehicle-Human Machine Interface for Driving Under Adverse Weather Conditions: Preliminary Findings From Wyoming

Connected vehicle (CV) technology aims to improve drivers' situational awareness through audible and visual warnings displayed on a human-machine interface (HMI), thus reducing crashes caused by human error. This paper developed a driving simulator test bed to assess the readability and usefulness of the Wyoming CV applications. A total number of 26 professional drivers were recruited to participate in a driving-simulator study. Prior to driving the simulator, the participants were trained on both the concept of CV technology and the developed CV applications as well as the operation of the driving simulator. Three driving simulation scenarios were designed. For each scenario, participants drove two times: one with the HMI turned on and another one with the HMI turned off. After driving the simulator, a comprehensive revealed-preference survey was employed to collect the participants' perceptions of CV technology and Wyoming CV applications. Results show that the Wyoming CV applications were most favored under poor-visibility driving conditions. Among the Wyoming CV applications, forward collision warning and rerouting applications were experienced as the most useful. Approximately 89% of the participants stated that the Wyoming CV applications provided them with improved road condition information and increased their experienced safety while driving; 65% of the participants stated the CV applications and the HMI did not introduce distraction from the primary task of driving. Finally, this paper concludes that the design of CV HMI needs to balance a trade-off between the readability of the warnings and drivers' capability to safely recognize and timely respond to the received warnings.