Objective and subjective evaluation of motor priming and warning systems applied to lateral control assistance (original) (raw)
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Lateral Control Assistance for Car Drivers: A Comparison of Motor Priming and Warning Systems
Human Factors, 2007
Objective: This paper's first objective is to determine whether motor priming assistance (consisting of directional steering wheel vibrations) can be of some benefit compared to more traditional auditory (lateralized sound) or vibratory (symmetric steering wheel oscillation) warning devices. We hypothesize that warning devices favor driving situation diagnosis, whereas motor priming can improve the initiation of action even further. Another objective is to assess the possible benefits of using multimodal information by combining auditory warning with simple steering wheel vibration or motor priming. Background: Within the context of active safety devices, the reported experiment dealt with moderately intrusive driving assistance devices that intervene when a certain level of risk in terms of lane departure is reached. Method: An analysis of the steering behavior of twenty participants following episodes of visual occlusion was carried out. Five warning and motor priming devices were compared. Results: All tested devices improved the drivers' steering performance, although their effects were modulated by the drivers' risk assessment. However, performance improvements were found to be greater with a motor priming device. No additional performance enhancement was observed when auditory warning was added to steering wheel vibration or motor priming devices. Conclusion: This study confirms the hypothesis that the direct intervention of motor priming at the action level is more effective than a simple warning, which intervenes upstream in situation diagnosis. Multimodal information did not seem to improve driver performance. Application: This study proposes a new kind of lateral control assistance, which acts at a sensorimotor level, in contrast with traditional warning devices.
User acceptance and effectiveness of warning and motor priming assistance devices in car driving
2008
This paper deals with driving assistances that intervene when a lane departure is imminent. Previous work [1] showed that motor priming devices (devices prompting the driver to take action by means of an asymmetric steering wheel vibration) were the most effective warning systems. The present experiment tries to qualify the different lane departure warning systems not only in terms of effectiveness but also in terms of acceptability. For this, both objective and subjective data were collected. Firstly, the study shows that acceptability and effectiveness are not necessarily correlated, and can even be contradictory. From an ergonomics point of view, we claim that a compromise should be reached between those criteria. Secondly, we show that a combined mode (sound and motor priming) could be a solution to find such a compromise. Finally, a perspective for further research is to better combine the modalities, through improved synchronization of the driver sensations.
A comparison of warning and motor priming assistance systems for lateral control in car driving
In order to prevent lane departures in car driving active safety devices have been developed. This paper assesses a new system designed to produce some motor priming (consisting of directional steering wheel vibrations) when a car is at risk of lane departure. The first objective was to determine if motor priming assistance can be of some benefit compared to more traditional auditory (lateralized sound) or vibratory (symmetric steering wheel oscillation) warning devices. Whilst on the one hand the motor priming mode was assumed to operate at the action level, on the other hand, other tested driving assistance devices were assumed to favour driving situation diagnosis. The second objective was to assess the possible advantage of using multimodal information by combining auditory warning with simple steering wheel vibration and motor priming. Observed behaviours showed that all tested devices improved drivers' steering performance; however, performance improvements were greater with a motor priming system. No performance enhancement was recorded when steering wheel vibration or motor priming systems were combined with auditory warning. This study confirms our hypothesis that the direct intervention of motor priming on motor action preparation is more effective than a simple warning which favours situation diagnosis. Multimodal information did not seem to improve drivers' performance in driving assistance systems for lateral control. Résumé Dans l'objectif d'améliorer la prévention des sorties de voie, différentes assistances à la conduite avertissant d'une position latérale sur la voie risquée, ont été développées. Un nouveau type d'assistance appelé « amorçage moteur » consistant en une vibration asymétrique de la colonne de direction du véhicule lors d'un écart au centre de la voie trop important a été testé. L'objectif principal était d'évaluer l'effet de ce nouveau mode d'assistance en comparaison à des assistances plus traditionnelles telles qu'une vibration symétrique de la colonne de direction ou d'un son indiquant le côté de sortie de voie. L'assistance « amorçage moteur » est présumée agir directement au niveau de la réalisation de l'action tandis que les autres assistances devraient favoriser le diagnostic de la situation de conduite. Notre objectif secondaire était d'évaluer le bénéfice potentiel de la multimodalité des assistances à la conduite. Cette hypothèse a été testée en combinant un son indiquant le côté de sortie de voie avec la vibration symétrique du volant d'une part et avec l' « amorçage moteur » d'autre part. Les résultats observés montrent que l'ensemble des assistances testées produisent une amélioration de la performance de conduite. Cette amélioration était toutefois nettement plus importante avec l'assistance « amorçage moteur ». Aucune amélioration de performance n'a été enregistrée pour les deux modes combinés infirmant ainsi l'éventualité d'un bénéfice de la multimodalité. L'hypothèse d'un effet direct de l'assistance « amorçage moteur » sur la préparation de l'action motrice semble être confirmée. Il en est de même pour l'hypothèse d'une amélioration du diagnostic de la situation concernant les autres assistances à la conduite.
Effectiveness of Tactile Warning and Voice Command for Enhancing Safety of Drivers
IEEE Access, 2022
Safety is impaired when drivers are required to perform main driving task (tracking of own car, distance maintenance between own car and a leading car, and response to target objects) and secondary task simultaneously, for example, responding to target cars on the road while operating in-vehicle equipment. A two-factor (presence or absence of tactile warning by input modality (no secondary task, voice command for a secondary task, and manual input for a secondary task)) within-subject design of ten licensed males was used to investigate how to compensate for safety impairments (decreased performance of a main and a secondary task such as increased tracking error during driving or increased reaction time to target cars on the road). We investigated whether the use of tactile warnings transmitted via left and right thighs for detecting road objects and voice command to operate in-vehicle equipment could compensate for safety impairments such as the increased reaction time to target cars on the road, the increase of detection error of target cars, or increased tracking error in driving. The accuracy and speed of responses to target cars encountered during driving were reduced when a driver was asked to perform the main and the secondary task simultaneously compared to situations performing only the main driving task (tracking, distance maintenance, and response to target cars). The availability of a tactile warning system for road objects compensated for these diminished performance measures, including slower response times and the increased detection error of target cars. Likewise, voice command contributed to enhanced performance of the main driving task such as decrease of tracking error. INDEX TERMS Automotive safety, interference of multiple tasks, tactile warning, voice command. I. INTRODUCTION 19 The need to perform multiple tasks while driving increases a 20 driver's visual and cognitive workload and substantially com-21 plicates the driver-vehicle interaction. Safety will be impaired 22 due to inattentive driving during multi-task performance [1], 23 [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7], [8]. The need to perform multi-24 ple tasks simultaneously while driving can result in delayed 25 responses to hazardous situations and increased potentials for 26 crashes. 27 The associate editor coordinating the review of this manuscript and approving it for publication was Roberto Sacile. a simulated main driving task. Participants were required 217 to maintain velocity within the speed limit of 80 km/h and 218 to maintain a specific distance between their cars and the 219 leading cars using the accelerator and the brake pedal of 220 the steering controller. We developed the driving simulator 221 using Hot Soup Processor 3.4. Four tactors with a diameter 222 of 45 mm (Acouve Laboratory Inc., Vp216) were used for 223 tactile warning. According to Murata et al. [13], the vibration 224 frequency of tactor was set to 64 Hz with an amplitude 225 of 10 Vp-p. The tactors were installed on the surface of 226 the driver's seat according to Murata et al. [13] so that the 227 vibration could be transmitted via left and right thighs. The 228 SOA (Stimulus Onset Asynchrony) and the duration of tactile 229 stimulation were set to 1 s and 1 s, respectively, according 230 to Murata et al. [13]. The SOA of 1 s meant that a warn-231 ing was presented to the participant 1 s before a target car 232 appeared. 233 The approximate layouts of the in-vehicle displays and the 234 GUI task are shown in Figure 2. As Japanese driver's seats are 235 located on the right, the driver seat was located on the right as 236 shown in Figure 2. Two 7-inch liquid crystal display (LCDs) Hypothesis 2, that is also related to tactile warning and the 659 main driving task, predicts that fast responses to target cars 660 do not improve the efficiency of other driving activity such as 661 tracking and distance maintenance, although rapid responses 662 to targets cars was promoted by tactile warning as verified 663 above. As shown in Figures 5 and 6, tactile warning did not 664 contribute to the mitigation of spatial processing competition 665 among tracking, distance maintenance, and responses to tar-666 get cars during driving, which verified Hypothesis 2. 667 Hypothesis 3 includes the concept of resource competition 668 for central processing and is concerned with both tactile warn-669 ing and voice command. There is no resource competition 670 for central processing between a secondary GUI task (verbal 671 processing) and a reaction task to target cars on the road 672 (spatial processing). As shown in Figure 9, fast responses to 673 target cars by tactile warning led to fast responses in the GUI 674 task, which was in support of Hypothesis 3. 675 Hypothesis 4 is related to voice command and tactile warn-676 ing and avoidance of response modality competition between 677 manual input to a GUI task and manual responses during 678 driving such as manual tracking or distance maintenance, 679
Proceedings of the 5th International Driving Symposium on Human Factors in Driver Assessment, Training, and Vehicle Design : Driving Assessment 2009
Active safety systems that warn automobile drivers of various types of impending collisions have been developed. How these systems alert drivers when integrated, however, is a crucial component to their effectiveness that hinges on the consideration of human factors. Drivers' ability to comprehend multiple alerts presented through a haptic driver seat was investigated in this dissertation. Twenty-four participants, balanced for age and gender, drove an instrumented vehicle on a test-track while haptic alerts (vibrations in the driver seat) were generated. Drivers' ability to transmit the information conveyed by the alerts was investigated through two experiments. The first experiment investigated the effects of increasing the number of potential alerts on drivers' response performance. The second experiment investigated whether presenting haptic alerts through unique versus common locations in the driver seat affects drivers' response performance. Younger drivers (between the ages of 18 and 25 years old) were found to efficiently process the increased information contained in the alerts, while older drivers were not as efficient. However, it is foreseeable that older driver performance decrements may be assuaged when a crash context is provided. A third experiment evaluated the haptic driver seat's ability to alert distracted drivers to an actual crash threat. Drivers that received a haptic seat alert returned their gaze to the forward roadway sooner, removed their foot from the throttle sooner, pressed the brake pedal sooner, and stopped farther away from an inflatable barricade than drivers that did not receive a haptic seat alert. No age or gender effects were found in this experiment. Furthermore, half of the drivers that received the haptic seat alert lifted up on the throttle before returning their eyes to the forward roadway. This suggests these drivers developed an automatic response to the haptic seat alerts through their experience with the previous two experiments. A three-alert haptic seat approach, the intermediate alternative tested, is recommended providing specific design requirements are met. iii DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to my fiancée Elizabeth, my grandparents Joyce, Francine, and Andre, my parents Stephen and Monique, as well as my brother Jeff and my sister Stephanie. Thank you for your tremendous support.
Efficacy of haptic blind spot warnings applied through a steering wheel or a seatbelt
Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 2013
This study evaluates the efficacy of haptic feedback for the Blind Spot Warnings (BSWs) that are delivered to a driver through a steering wheel or a seatbelt. To this end, we developed a virtual driving simulator that implemented potential side collision scenarios. Haptic BSWs were issued as a vibrotactile alert during lane changes if a car in the target lane approached from the participant's blind spot at a faster speed. The two haptic warning types were assessed through a human factors experiment with participants of two age groups: younger (30-40 years) and older (50-60 years). No warning condition was also included as the control condition. As performance measures, the Collision Prevention Rate (CPR) and the Minimum Distance by which a collision was Avoided (MDA) were collected. As preference measures, the participants' perception of usefulness of the haptic warnings and their overall satisfaction were used. Experimental results showed that the highest CPR, the longest MDA, and the highest preference were achieved when BSWs were delivered through the steering wheel. For the seatbelt BSW, the CPR and MDA did not increase with statistical significance than those of the no-warning condition, but the participants felt that the haptic seatbelt was useful with high satisfaction. Interestingly, the scores of perceived usefulness and satisfaction were higher with the older group, suggesting that older drivers can be more willing to accept these new types of warning. In addition, the experiment suggested several factors that need to be studied to further improve the performance and preference of haptic BSW, such as warning issue timing and vibration intensity.
Accident Analysis and Prevention, 2006
This study was designed to investigate the possibility that driver responses to potential front-to-rear-end collision situations could be facilitated by implementing vibrotactile warning signals that indicate the likely direction of the potential collision. In a car following scenario in a driving simulator, participants drove along a rural road while trying to maintain a safe headway distance to the lead car using a visual distance display. Participants had to respond as quickly as possible to the sudden deceleration of the lead car which had its brake lights disabled, either with or without vibrotactile cues (presented in different experimental blocks). The results demonstrated significantly faster braking responses and larger safety margins when the vibrotactile warning signal was presented than when it was not. These findings demonstrate the effectiveness of vibrotactile cues in helping drivers to orient their spatial attention in the appropriate direction. Our results add to a growing body of empirical evidence highlighting the potential benefits of using “intuitive” vibrotactile in-car displays, in this case, to alert drivers to potential collisions and to provide time-critical directional information.
This research examined, as an exploratory secondary analysis, the frequency of lane departure warnings in two commercially available vehicles and users' behavioral and physiological responses to the alarms. The two lane departure systems used different alerting mechanisms. One provided an auditory alert, while the other activated haptic stimulation through the steering wheel. Results show that both systems trigger an increase of steering wheel movement following an alert, with some evidence for, on average, a faster response to the system with the haptic alert. There was also a significant difference in the frequency of alerts between the systems. Results suggest the need for further work focused on developing a more comprehensive understanding of the effectiveness of various implementations of these potentially lifesaving warning systems under field conditions.
Tactile stimulations and wheel rotation responses: toward augmented lane departure warning systems
Frontiers in Psychology, 2014
When an on-board system detects a drift of a vehicle to the left or to the right, in what way should the information be delivered to the driver? Car manufacturers have so far neglected relevant results from Experimental Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience. Here we show that this situation possibly led to the sub-optimal design of a lane departure warning system (AFIL, PSA Peugeot Citroën) implemented in commercially available automobile vehicles. Twenty participants performed a two-choice reaction time task in which they were to respond by clockwise or counter-clockwise wheel-rotations to tactile stimulations of their left or right wrist. They performed poorer when responding counter-clockwise to the right vibration and clockwise to the left vibration (incompatible mapping) than when responding according to the reverse (compatible) mapping. This suggests that AFIL implements the worse (incompatible) mapping for the operators. This effect depended on initial practice with the interface. The present research illustrates how basic approaches in Cognitive Science may benefit to Human Factors Engineering and ultimately improve man-machine interfaces and show how initial learning can affect interference effects.
Directional tactile alerts for take-over requests in highly-automated driving
Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 2019
One of the most significant safety concerns regarding Highly-Automated Driving (HAD) is drivers' ability to regain control of the vehicle safely. Vibro-tactile alerts were already suggested as an effective modality for TakeOver Requests (TOR) in terms of reducing reaction times. However, it is not clear yet whether such alerts should be compatible or incompatible with the location of hazards that might be present when the TOR is initiated. Studies regarding tactile directionality in other domains, and in manual vehicles have found mixed results. It is argued that part of the contradictory evidence may be related to contextual differences between the driving domain and other domains. Thus, this study aimed to test which directional design would be preferable for TORs in time-critical situations. Twenty-seven participants drove a highly-automated vehicle on a highway with two lanes in each travel direction, in a driving simulator. Each participant experienced five TORs in which they were required to take control and divert their vehicle away from an impending hazard that shut down an entire lane and was situated four seconds ahead. The disengagement of the autonomous driver was signaled using a tactile alert. For the first group, the tactile alert was directed towards the hazard (incompatible with the required action), for the second, it was directed away from it (compatible with the required action), and for the control group, the alert was non-directional. Results showed that drivers using the compatible alert reacted faster and more accurately than those using the incompatible alert. Participants using the non-directional alert reacted slower and less accurately than participants in both directional groups. The results contradict previous findings in the manual driving domain, where drivers are faster and more accurate to respond when the alert is compatible with the location of the hazard and not with the direction of the required action. It is argued that these discrepancies stem from the modified HAD driving task demands where drivers are disengaged from the driving task for long periods and are less aware of the driving environment. The implications for the design of autonomous vehicles are discussed.