Catch My Drift: Elevating Situation Awareness for Highly Automated Driving with an Explanatory Windshield Display User Interface

Lindemann, Patrick; Lee, Tae-Young; Rigoll, Gerhard · 2018 · Crossref

DOI: 10.3390/mti2040071

archive: archived pipeline: cataloged verified

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Summary

This paper addresses the challenge of maintaining driver situation awareness (SA) and trust in highly automated vehicles (ACs), particularly within complex urban environments. The authors argue that even reliable ACs may execute sudden, reactive maneuvers in unpredictable hazardous situations, potentially causing driver discomfort, anxiety, or a loss of trust. To mitigate these risks, the study proposes an explanatory windshield display (WSD) user interface utilizing augmented reality (AR) elements. This interface aims to make the vehicle’s perceptive capabilities and driving decisions transparent to the driver, thereby elevating SA and preventing negative experiences that could hinder technology acceptance. The researchers employed a human-centered design approach, beginning with a survey of 51 licensed drivers to identify user preferences and concerns regarding AC interfaces. Based on these insights, they developed a prototype WSD featuring both screen-fixed information panels (e.g., traffic regulations, navigation, confidence bars) and world-registered AR overlays (e.g., threat markers, oncoming traffic indicators, pedestrian highlights). The prototype was implemented in a custom mixed-reality driving simulation. To evaluate its effectiveness, the authors conducted a user study assessing the interface’s impact on driver SA during simulated urban driving scenarios. The evaluation measured both objective SA scores and subjective self-ratings under varying visibility conditions. The results demonstrated that the explanatory WSD interface significantly improved driver situation awareness. Objective SA scores and self-ratings both showed significant improvements when using the interface. Specifically, the study found a medium effect size for improvements in good visibility conditions and a large effect size in bad visibility conditions. The AR elements, which highlighted hazards and explained driving decisions, helped drivers better comprehend the vehicle’s actions and the surrounding traffic situation. The survey data also indicated that while users initially had mixed opinions on the necessity of such interfaces, their trust in ACs increased significantly after being introduced to the explanatory UI concept, particularly in adverse weather conditions. The significance of this work lies in its demonstration that explanatory AR interfaces can serve as a viable measure to enhance driver SA and potentially build trust in fully automated driving systems. By providing clear, contextual information about the vehicle’s perception and decision-making processes, the interface helps drivers understand and anticipate sudden maneuvers, reducing confusion and anxiety. The findings suggest that such interfaces are particularly beneficial in challenging urban environments where unpredictability is high. This research contributes to the broader field of human-machine interaction in autonomous vehicles by highlighting the importance of transparency and explainability in user interface design for fostering technology acceptance and ensuring safe, comfortable user experiences.

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Topics

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• situational awareness
• automation
• hud ar windshield
• ehmi external hmi
• automation surprise
• mode awareness

Information type

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• Applied Guidance: design guidelines
• Empirical Findings: self report data
• Methodological Resource: tool software