Title: Towards user acceptance of autonomous vehicles: a virtual reality study on human-machine interfaces

Authors: Sebastian Stadler; Henriette Cornet; Fritz Frenkler

Addresses: Design for Autonomous Mobility, TUMCREATE Ltd, #10-02 CREATE Tower, 138602, Singapore ' Design for Autonomous Mobility, TUMCREATE Ltd, #10-02 CREATE Tower, 138602, Singapore ' Department of Industrial Design, Technical University of Munich, Arcisstraße 21, 80333 München, Germany

Abstract: Technological advances in businesses related to automated transportation raise challenges. Indeed, ensuring safety for users is essential for the future commercial launch of this technology. Within this study, human-machine interfaces (HMIs) are evaluated regarding the communication between autonomous vehicles (AVs) and pedestrians in order to prepare a successful deployment of the technology on the market. Since real-life experiments involving AVs remain dangerous, experiments were conducted via virtual reality (VR). The results show that beyond the need for HMIs, display-based concepts were more usable than laser projections. The study impacts on: 1) substantiating the need for explicit HMIs on AVs (including concept recommendations) for a successful market entry; 2) proving that VR constitutes an advantageous alternative for conducting experiments in the field of autonomous transportation for both research and business. Further work is needed that involves more participants and an improved virtual environment.

Keywords: virtual reality; autonomous mobility; human-machine interfaces; HMIs; usability testing; pedestrian safety; pedestrian simulator; pedestrian behaviour; evaluation of interfaces; head-mounted display.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTMKT.2019.104601

International Journal of Technology Marketing, 2019 Vol.13 No.3/4, pp.325 - 353

Received: 20 Dec 2018
Accepted: 23 Apr 2019

Published online: 21 Jan 2020 *

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