Mental workload of common voice-based vehicle interactions across six different vehicle systems
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Summary
This study investigated the visual, cognitive, and subjective workload associated with using Apple CarPlay, Google Android Auto, and five native Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) infotainment systems while driving. The research was motivated by the growing integration of smartphone-based platforms into vehicles and the need to understand how these systems compare to native OEM interfaces in terms of driver distraction. The authors aimed to determine if CarPlay and Android Auto impose lower demands than native systems, potentially offering a safer alternative for in-vehicle interactions. The experimental design involved 64 participants who drove five different vehicle models (Honda, Ford, Chevrolet, Kia, and Ram) equipped with native systems, CarPlay, and Android Auto. Each vehicle configuration was tested with 24 participants. Drivers performed four task types—audio entertainment, calling/dialing, text messaging, and navigation—using either center stack displays or auditory/vocal commands. Workload was measured using a Detection Response Task (DRT) to assess cognitive and visual demand, alongside the NASA Task Load Index for subjective workload. Performance was benchmarked against a single-task baseline, a high-cognitive-load N-back task, and a high-visual-demand Surrogate Reference Task (SuRT). Data were analyzed using linear mixed effects models to account for the planned missing data structure. The results indicated that the embedded portion of native OEM systems generated significantly greater workload than both CarPlay and Android Auto. Specifically, native systems imposed higher visual, subjective, and overall demand scores. Cognitive demand was relatively constant across all systems but remained higher than the N-back reference task. While CarPlay and Android Auto differed in their specific strengths and weaknesses depending on the task and interaction mode, their overall demand levels did not significantly differ from each other. Both smartphone-based platforms provided more functionality and resulted in lower levels of workload compared to the native OEM infotainment systems. The significance of these findings lies in the potential for refinements to CarPlay and Android Auto to further address workload variations based on task type and interaction modality. The study suggests that smartphone-based platforms may offer a safer user experience than native OEM systems by reducing visual and cognitive distractions. These insights can inform the development of in-vehicle information systems and guide OEM implementations to minimize driver impairment. The research supports the notion that standardized, smartphone-driven interfaces can reduce the complexity and demand associated with in-vehicle tasks, thereby enhancing driving safety.
Key finding
Voice-based interactions across six vehicle systems showed varying but consistently high levels of mental workload, with some systems producing workload comparable to the cognitively demanding OSPAN task.
Methodology
simulator
Sample size: 36
Provenance
The full processing record for this entry. Every stage of this paper's journey through the pipeline is logged — what ran, with which tool and model, how many attempts it took, and when it last completed. Discovered via author_sweep_intake on 2026-05-27 (5 acquisition events logged).
| Stage | Outcome | Tool | Model | Prompt | Attempts | Completed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| discover | success | author_sweep | — | — | 3 | 2026-05-29 |
| archive | failed | pmc | — | — | 19 | 2026-06-04 |
| extract | success | pdf_extracted | — | — | 2 | 2026-06-10 |
| clean | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-01 |
| chunk | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-01 |
| embed | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-02 |
| enrich | skipped | — | — | — | 3 | 2026-07-02 |
| promote | success | — | — | — | 2 | 2026-06-06 |
| summarize | success | llm | qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant | summ-v5 | 2 | 2026-06-10 |
| tag | success | vector_similarity | — | — | 17 | 2026-06-11 |
| verify | success | — | — | — | 2 | 2026-06-10 |
Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-10; verification: verified.
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