Take It to the Curb: Scalable Communication Between Autonomous Cars and Vulnerable Road Users Through Curbstone Displays
Automated driving will require new approaches to the communication between vehicles and vulnerable road users (VRUs) such as pedestrians, e.g., through external human–machine interfaces (eHMIs). However, the majority of eHMI concepts are neither scalable (i.e., take into account complex traffic scen...
Main Authors: | , , , , |
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-04-01
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Series: | Frontiers in Computer Science |
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcomp.2022.844245/full |
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author | Kai Holländer Marius Hoggenmüller Romy Gruber Sarah Theres Völkel Andreas Butz |
author_facet | Kai Holländer Marius Hoggenmüller Romy Gruber Sarah Theres Völkel Andreas Butz |
author_sort | Kai Holländer |
collection | DOAJ |
description | Automated driving will require new approaches to the communication between vehicles and vulnerable road users (VRUs) such as pedestrians, e.g., through external human–machine interfaces (eHMIs). However, the majority of eHMI concepts are neither scalable (i.e., take into account complex traffic scenarios with multiple vehicles and VRUs), nor do they optimize traffic flow. Speculating on the upgrade of traffic infrastructure in the automated city, we propose Smart Curbs, a scalable communication concept integrated into the curbstone. Using a combination of immersive and non-immersive prototypes, we evaluated the suitability of our concept for complex urban environments in a user study (N = 18). Comparing the approach to a projection-based eHMI, our findings reveal that Smart Curbs are safer to use, as our participants spent less time on the road when crossing. Based on our findings, we discuss the potential of Smart Curbs to mitigate the scalability problem in AV-pedestrian communication and simultaneously enhance traffic flow. |
first_indexed | 2024-04-11T16:32:56Z |
format | Article |
id | doaj.art-aaac5b84af4e46cc80223d9cc7f87a65 |
institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
issn | 2624-9898 |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-04-11T16:32:56Z |
publishDate | 2022-04-01 |
publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
record_format | Article |
series | Frontiers in Computer Science |
spelling | doaj.art-aaac5b84af4e46cc80223d9cc7f87a652022-12-22T04:13:56ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Computer Science2624-98982022-04-01410.3389/fcomp.2022.844245844245Take It to the Curb: Scalable Communication Between Autonomous Cars and Vulnerable Road Users Through Curbstone DisplaysKai Holländer0Marius Hoggenmüller1Romy Gruber2Sarah Theres Völkel3Andreas Butz4LMU Munich, Munich, GermanyDesign Lab, School of Architecture, Design and Planning, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, AustraliaLMU Munich, Munich, GermanyLMU Munich, Munich, GermanyLMU Munich, Munich, GermanyAutomated driving will require new approaches to the communication between vehicles and vulnerable road users (VRUs) such as pedestrians, e.g., through external human–machine interfaces (eHMIs). However, the majority of eHMI concepts are neither scalable (i.e., take into account complex traffic scenarios with multiple vehicles and VRUs), nor do they optimize traffic flow. Speculating on the upgrade of traffic infrastructure in the automated city, we propose Smart Curbs, a scalable communication concept integrated into the curbstone. Using a combination of immersive and non-immersive prototypes, we evaluated the suitability of our concept for complex urban environments in a user study (N = 18). Comparing the approach to a projection-based eHMI, our findings reveal that Smart Curbs are safer to use, as our participants spent less time on the road when crossing. Based on our findings, we discuss the potential of Smart Curbs to mitigate the scalability problem in AV-pedestrian communication and simultaneously enhance traffic flow.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcomp.2022.844245/fullsmart citieseHMIscity infrastructureautomated vehiclesVRUsAV-VRU communication |
spellingShingle | Kai Holländer Marius Hoggenmüller Romy Gruber Sarah Theres Völkel Andreas Butz Take It to the Curb: Scalable Communication Between Autonomous Cars and Vulnerable Road Users Through Curbstone Displays Frontiers in Computer Science smart cities eHMIs city infrastructure automated vehicles VRUs AV-VRU communication |
title | Take It to the Curb: Scalable Communication Between Autonomous Cars and Vulnerable Road Users Through Curbstone Displays |
title_full | Take It to the Curb: Scalable Communication Between Autonomous Cars and Vulnerable Road Users Through Curbstone Displays |
title_fullStr | Take It to the Curb: Scalable Communication Between Autonomous Cars and Vulnerable Road Users Through Curbstone Displays |
title_full_unstemmed | Take It to the Curb: Scalable Communication Between Autonomous Cars and Vulnerable Road Users Through Curbstone Displays |
title_short | Take It to the Curb: Scalable Communication Between Autonomous Cars and Vulnerable Road Users Through Curbstone Displays |
title_sort | take it to the curb scalable communication between autonomous cars and vulnerable road users through curbstone displays |
topic | smart cities eHMIs city infrastructure automated vehicles VRUs AV-VRU communication |
url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcomp.2022.844245/full |
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