Towards Transparency Between the Autonomous Vehicle and the Pedestrian

Abstract

This paper addresses the new problem of transparency in relation to pedestrians’ interaction with driverless vehicles, arising from their lack of visual cues to replace those currently provided by the visible behaviours of the driver. It reports two observational investigations of the affordances of the street, one looking at the street as static environment, the other at pedestrian behaviours in relation to driven vehicles. The findings of the research were used to identify the decision-making process, timings and exhibited behaviours of pedestrians and drivers in the street environment.