Improved vehicle safety and how technology will get us there, hopefully

Abstract

The successful deployment of new technologies in highway vehicles hinges on the driver's ability to safely use those systems. This chapter calls on the engineering community to give full consideration to the usability problems associated with in-vehicle systems designed to engage/communicate with drivers. Such interactions may contain information about the vehicle, the roadway, other vehicles, the route, or the weather, or they may be of personal entertainment interest. There is considerable evidence that drivers are in visual overload, and the delivery of additional information via auditory displays is warranted, but there is cognitive workload associated with driving activities regardless of the perceptual channel involved. The distraction costs for naturalistic speech interaction may be less than for the visual dashboard display of information, but there are many human factors issues to address in order to ensure improved driver performance and safety. © 2009 Springer US.