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COMUNICAR: designing a multimedia, context-aware human-machine interface for cars

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Abstract

The European Union co-funded COMUNICAR (communication multimedia unit inside car) project designed and developed an integrated multimedia human–machine interface (HMI) able to manage a wide variety of driver information systems (from entertainment to safety). COMUNICAR proposed an innovative information provision paradigm, in which the on-vehicle HMI is able to tailor the delivery of the information in real time according to the actual driving context and the driver’s workload. COMUNICAR adopted a user-centred design process involving an iterative development based on extensive user tests since the early phases of the project. This approach was particularly useful to define and improve the layout of the user interface and specify the rules that decide the scheduling and the modalities of the delivery of the information messages to the driver. This paper introduces the COMUNICAR concept and the user-centred flow of design. Then, a concrete case of user-test driven, iterative improvement of a system’s functionality is presented. We also briefly describe two software tools that we have designed to enhance the development process in a user-centred perspective. Finally, the future evolution of the concept of smart and safe information scheduling is sketched and discussed.

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Notes

  1. Centro Ricerche FIAT (project coordinator—IT), University of Siena (IT), Volvo (SE), Metravib RDS (FR), DaimlerChrysler (D), Fraunhofer Institute (D), BORG (D), University of Genova (IT), ICCS NTUA (EL), BAST (D), TNO (NL)

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the anonymous reviewers, whose comments have significantly contributed to enhance the quality of the paper. We would like to thank our colleagues of the COMUNICAR consortium for their precious collaboration in the project.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electronics and Biophysical Engineering, University of Genova, Via Opera Pia 11/a, 16145, Genova, Italy

    F. Bellotti & A. De Gloria

  2. Department of Sciences and Methods of Engineering, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Via Fogliani, 1, 42100, Reggio Emilia, Italy

    R. Montanari

  3. FIAT Research Center, Strada Torino, 50, 10043, Orbassano (TO), Italy

    N. Dosio & D. Morreale

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  1. F. Bellotti
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  2. A. De Gloria
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  3. R. Montanari
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  4. N. Dosio
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  5. D. Morreale
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Correspondence to F. Bellotti.

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Bellotti, F., Gloria, A.D., Montanari, R. et al. COMUNICAR: designing a multimedia, context-aware human-machine interface for cars. Cogn Tech Work 7, 36–45 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10111-004-0168-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10111-004-0168-9

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