Mental workload of common voice-based vehicle interactions across six different vehicle systems
URL: https://aaafoundation.org
archive: archived pipeline: cataloged verified
Summary
Driving Symposium proceedings paper assessing cognitive workload of voice interactions with six 2012-2013 OEM infotainment systems (Ford SYNC/MyFord Touch, Chevy MyLink, Chrysler Uconnect, Toyota Entune, Mercedes COMMAND, Hyundai Blue Link). Thirty-six participants (18 male, 18 female, age 22-36) drove a real-world course while completing scripted voice tasks; workload was indexed via a head-mounted Detection Response Task (per ISO WD 17488), Zephyr BioHarness heart rate, and NASA-TLX. Results showed well-executed voice systems imposed little extra cognitive demand, while poorly executed systems significantly elevated workload, extending Strayer et al. (2013/2014) lab findings to commercially deployed systems.
Key finding
Cognitive workload of OEM voice interactions varies widely by system implementation: well-designed systems add little load while poorly designed ones produce large workload increases.
Methodology
Exp 1: 10 participants, repeated measures across 6 sessions from 26 total. Exp 2: 20 participants, Old/New sequence comparison. On-road driving paradigm with DRT and NASA-TLX measures.
Sample size: Exp 1: N=10; Exp 2: N=20
Quality score: 5 / 5