This week, TU-Automotive announced the release of its 40-page Automated Vehicle HMI Report, which explores the role of HMI in bridging the gap between fully autonomous vehicles and the driver.
While autonomous technology is far from ready to handle all driving conditions, understanding the Human Machine Interface (HMI) is crucial, according to the report, for the driver to safely take control of the vehicle. The report was created with the intent of mapping out in detail the routes the industry is taking to achieve HMI success.
Ruthana Foulkes, VP of research at TU-Automotive said, “Whilst the industry is taking huge steps to get to fully autonomous vehicles, we are still a way off. In the meantime the HMI is the crucial component to allow active safety services to continue to develop. Without the ability to safety and efficiently transition between the car and human, developments are limited, which means road hours and data sets are limited and therefore impede progress. This report offers a concise update of current research and how to develop the HMI for vehicles on the roadway to the driverless car.”
Containing the contributions of 12 experts including Texas Instruments DLP Automotive, Carnegie Mellon University and Volkswagen Group of America, the report includes practical insights from four case studies featuring the AdaptIVe Automated Driving Project and Mercedes-Benz Distronic Plus to help readers bring their offerings up-to-speed with the cutting edge of HMI development. Further topics addressed in the report include consistent HMI vs. unique brand experience, operator engagement, consumer acceptance, human interaction and potential market growth.
Specific questions addressed include:
· Who is using the automated vehicle? A look at risk taking, complacency, distraction, vigilance decrement, and drowsiness as factors that complicate human-machine interaction;
· Consistent HMI vs. Unique Brand Experience: Should automated vehicle HMI design be standardized?;
· Operator engagement: What are the HMI options are being proposed to keep operators engaged in monitoring the roadway, as well as being contextually aware of the automation?;
· Consumer acceptance: How can HMI can boost consumers’ trust?; and
· Market growth: What will be next for automated vehicles?
