Interaction and Easier Operation

Excerpt

In autonomous driving mode, it is not only the cars that can make mistakes, but also the drivers, when they are required to take over responsibility for driving from the vehicle. The driver’s senses are likely to be dulled to a greater or lesser extent as a result of having been involved in other activities such as reading the newspaper or even sleeping. To bring the driver back into the loop, the different senses need to be taken into consideration. We have a very good understanding of how people absorb information, according to ergonomics experts such as Professor Heiner Bubb from the Technical University of Munich. This means that we are familiar with the stimulus thresholds and their dependencies on the physical parameters that influence the different sensory organs: optical, acoustic, haptic, kinesthetic (relating to balance), and thermal. The other senses, such as taste and smell, are not relevant to driving. It is possible that there will be errors in the information that drivers take on board if the stimulus is below the threshold. Errors can also occur if stimuli above the threshold are confused or conceal other signals during subsequent processing. …