Building Trust in Autonomous Vehicles: Role of Virtual Reality Driving Simulators in HMI Design
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Summary
This paper addresses the critical challenge of building user trust in Autonomous Vehicles (AVs), particularly for Level 4 and Level 5 automation where passengers lack control. The authors argue that trust is established during a "learning phase" through the formation of a mental model of the vehicle’s capabilities, which relies heavily on effective Human-Machine Interaction (HMI). To evaluate HMI designs without the risks of real-world testing, the study proposes a methodology using an immersive Virtual Reality (VR) driving simulator combined with physiological signal monitoring. The experimental setup utilizes the HTC Vive VR headset integrated with the open-source GENIVI driving simulator and an Atomic A3 Racing motion platform to simulate yaw and pitch movements, enhancing immersion. The authors developed a custom PID-based autonomous driving controller to handle complex scenarios, such as obstacle avoidance and traffic navigation. The study evaluates a Head-Up Display (HUD) interface that provides visual cues about the vehicle’s sensory inputs and planning systems. This interface uses bounding boxes and icons to display information on static and dynamic objects, including distance, speed, and collision warnings, aiming to provide "how" and "why" explanations for the vehicle's actions. User experience was assessed through a dual-feedback approach: subjective post-experience questionnaires and objective, continuous physiological measurements, specifically focusing on stress levels via Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) and Heart Rate (HR). The methodology allows for the measurement of affective states in a controlled, repeatable environment, addressing the limitation of traditional simulators that focus on driver performance rather than passenger comfort and trust. The results provide qualitative and quantitative evidence that an interface delivering a comprehensive picture of the vehicle’s surroundings leads to a less stressful experience for users, despite imposing a higher cognitive load. Furthermore, participants exposed to this informative interface demonstrated a greater willingness to test a real autonomous vehicle. The study concludes that providing detailed feedback on the vehicle’s perception and planning processes is conducive to reducing stress and fostering trust. The proposed VR-based methodology is validated as an effective tool for evaluating HMI designs in AVs, offering a scalable approach to assess user experience factors that are difficult to measure in real-world conditions.
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| Stage | Outcome | Tool | Model | Prompt | Attempts | Completed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| discover | success | OpenAlex-citations | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-25 |
| archive | success | unpaywall | — | — | 2 | 2026-06-26 |
| extract | success | cached | — | — | 2 | 2026-06-26 |
| clean | success | clean | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-25 |
| chunk | success | chunk | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-25 |
| embed | success | embed | Qwen/Qwen3-Embedding-8B | — | 1 | 2026-06-25 |
| promote | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-25 |
| summarize | success | llm | qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant | summ-v5 | 1 | 2026-06-26 |
| tag | success | vector_similarity | — | — | 6 | 2026-06-25 |
| verify | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-26 |
Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-26; verification: verified.
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