New knowledge and methods for mitigating driver distraction
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Summary
This Engineering Doctorate thesis by Claudia Geitner addresses the persistent safety challenge of driver distraction, particularly as vehicles transition toward higher levels of automation. The research is motivated by the need to understand how drivers interact with complex in-vehicle interfaces and to develop methods for mitigating distraction while ensuring new technologies do not introduce new risks. The project is structured into two distinct research streams: the first investigates tactile interfaces as a mitigation strategy for distraction, and the second develops tools to support Human-Machine Interface (HMI) engineers in selecting appropriate ergonomic evaluation measures. Research stream one comprised four studies evaluating tactile feedback as an alternative to visual or auditory warnings. The first study examined how shoe type, gender, age, and feedback parameters (duration and amplitude) influence the perception of a tactile pedal. Results indicated that while shoe type had no effect, gender, age, and specific feedback settings significantly influenced perception, with certain configurations recognized by all participants as highly intense. A subsequent study compared reaction times to tactile, auditory, and multimodal (auditory-tactile) warnings in a driving simulator. Participants reacted significantly slower to tactile warnings alone compared to auditory ones, suggesting tactile feedback may be unsuitable as a standalone warning. However, adding an auditory component to tactile feedback improved efficiency, resulting in fewer missed warnings than auditory-only alerts. Further studies explored the role of driver trust, finding that while trust did not affect reaction times to tactile warnings, it significantly influenced glance behavior toward new voice-navigation interfaces. Higher trust correlated with reduced off-road glances, indicating that building trust can mitigate distraction caused by unfamiliar technology. Research stream two focused on the practical challenges HMI engineers face when selecting measures for ergonomic evaluations under tight industrial deadlines. Finding no existing guidelines in literature, the author developed a novel conceptual interface tool through four rapid prototyping evaluations. This tool serves as a knowledge management system, aiding engineers in comparing and selecting Human Factors measures. It provides best-practice information, equipment setup tips, and analysis templates, thereby streamlining the preparation and execution of user trials. The significance of this work lies in its dual contribution to automotive safety and engineering efficiency. For safety, it clarifies the limitations of tactile warnings, advocating for multimodal approaches and highlighting the importance of trust in reducing visual distraction from new interfaces. For the industry, the developed toolkit offers a practical solution for managing knowledge and optimizing the ergonomic evaluation process, helping manufacturers design safer, more usable in-vehicle systems amidst increasing technological complexity.
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 2026-05-28.
| Stage | Outcome | Tool | Model | Prompt | Attempts | Completed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| discover | success | author_sweep | — | — | 2 | 2026-05-28 |
| archive | success | canonical_url | — | — | 11 | 2026-06-09 |
| extract | success | cached | — | — | 2 | 2026-06-10 |
| clean | success | clean | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-04 |
| chunk | success | chunk | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-04 |
| embed | success | embed | Qwen/Qwen3-Embedding-8B | — | 1 | 2026-06-04 |
| enrich | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-05-28 |
| promote | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-04 |
| summarize | success | llm | qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant | summ-v5 | 1 | 2026-06-10 |
| tag | success | vector_similarity | — | — | 15 | 2026-06-11 |
| verify | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-10 |
Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-10; verification: verified.
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- Applied Guidance: design guidelines
- Empirical Findings: behavioral performance data
- Theoretical Contribution: conceptual framework