Ambient Light Conveying Reliability Improves Drivers’ Takeover Performance without Increasing Mental Workload
Drivers of L3 automated vehicles (AVs) are not required to continuously monitor the AV system. However, they must be prepared to take over when requested. Therefore, it is necessary to design an in-vehicle environment that allows drivers to adapt their levels of preparedness to the likelihood of con...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-08-01
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| Series: | Multimodal Technologies and Interaction |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2414-4088/6/9/73 |
| _version_ | 1797484177207066624 |
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| author | Nikol Figalová Lewis L. Chuang Jürgen Pichen Martin Baumann Olga Pollatos |
| author_facet | Nikol Figalová Lewis L. Chuang Jürgen Pichen Martin Baumann Olga Pollatos |
| author_sort | Nikol Figalová |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Drivers of L3 automated vehicles (AVs) are not required to continuously monitor the AV system. However, they must be prepared to take over when requested. Therefore, it is necessary to design an in-vehicle environment that allows drivers to adapt their levels of preparedness to the likelihood of control transition. This study evaluates ambient in-vehicle lighting that continuously communicates the current level of AV reliability, specifically on how it could influence drivers’ take-over performance and mental workload (MW). We conducted an experiment in a driving simulator with 42 participants who experienced 10 take-over requests (TORs). The experimental group experienced a four-stage ambient light display that communicated the current level of AV reliability, which was not provided to the control group. The experimental group demonstrated better take-over performance, based on lower vehicle jerks. Notably, perceived MW did not differ between the groups, and the EEG indices of MW (frontal theta power, parietal alpha power, Task–Load Index) did not differ between the groups. These findings suggest that communicating the current level of reliability using ambient light might help drivers be better prepared for TORs and perform better without increasing their MW. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T22:58:43Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0d2a49b802d64270934447758cad9adf |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2414-4088 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T22:58:43Z |
| publishDate | 2022-08-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Multimodal Technologies and Interaction |
| spelling | doaj.art-0d2a49b802d64270934447758cad9adf2023-11-23T18:05:01ZengMDPI AGMultimodal Technologies and Interaction2414-40882022-08-01697310.3390/mti6090073Ambient Light Conveying Reliability Improves Drivers’ Takeover Performance without Increasing Mental WorkloadNikol Figalová0Lewis L. Chuang1Jürgen Pichen2Martin Baumann3Olga Pollatos4Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, Institute of Psychology and Education, Ulm University, 89081 Ulm, GermanyDepartment of Human and Technology, Institute for Media Research, Faculty of Humanities, Chemnitz University of Technology, 09111 Chemnitz, GermanyDepartment of Human Factors, Institute of Psychology and Education, Ulm University, 89081 Ulm, GermanyDepartment of Human Factors, Institute of Psychology and Education, Ulm University, 89081 Ulm, GermanyDepartment of Clinical and Health Psychology, Institute of Psychology and Education, Ulm University, 89081 Ulm, GermanyDrivers of L3 automated vehicles (AVs) are not required to continuously monitor the AV system. However, they must be prepared to take over when requested. Therefore, it is necessary to design an in-vehicle environment that allows drivers to adapt their levels of preparedness to the likelihood of control transition. This study evaluates ambient in-vehicle lighting that continuously communicates the current level of AV reliability, specifically on how it could influence drivers’ take-over performance and mental workload (MW). We conducted an experiment in a driving simulator with 42 participants who experienced 10 take-over requests (TORs). The experimental group experienced a four-stage ambient light display that communicated the current level of AV reliability, which was not provided to the control group. The experimental group demonstrated better take-over performance, based on lower vehicle jerks. Notably, perceived MW did not differ between the groups, and the EEG indices of MW (frontal theta power, parietal alpha power, Task–Load Index) did not differ between the groups. These findings suggest that communicating the current level of reliability using ambient light might help drivers be better prepared for TORs and perform better without increasing their MW.https://www.mdpi.com/2414-4088/6/9/73ambient lightreliabilitytake-over requestmental workloadelectroencephalography (EEG)transition of control |
| spellingShingle | Nikol Figalová Lewis L. Chuang Jürgen Pichen Martin Baumann Olga Pollatos Ambient Light Conveying Reliability Improves Drivers’ Takeover Performance without Increasing Mental Workload Multimodal Technologies and Interaction ambient light reliability take-over request mental workload electroencephalography (EEG) transition of control |
| title | Ambient Light Conveying Reliability Improves Drivers’ Takeover Performance without Increasing Mental Workload |
| title_full | Ambient Light Conveying Reliability Improves Drivers’ Takeover Performance without Increasing Mental Workload |
| title_fullStr | Ambient Light Conveying Reliability Improves Drivers’ Takeover Performance without Increasing Mental Workload |
| title_full_unstemmed | Ambient Light Conveying Reliability Improves Drivers’ Takeover Performance without Increasing Mental Workload |
| title_short | Ambient Light Conveying Reliability Improves Drivers’ Takeover Performance without Increasing Mental Workload |
| title_sort | ambient light conveying reliability improves drivers takeover performance without increasing mental workload |
| topic | ambient light reliability take-over request mental workload electroencephalography (EEG) transition of control |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2414-4088/6/9/73 |
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