Effects of Multiple Auditory Alerts for in-Vehicle Information Systems on Driver Attitudes and Performance

Abstract

In-vehicle information systems might introduce a variety of sounds to alert drivers to situations ranging from imminent collisions to the arrival of email. This study examined the effects of auditory alerts on driver performance and attitudes. Sixteen participants drove eight driving scenarios over a period of two days in which they were exposed to email alerts and collision avoidance warnings. In each scenario, four email alert tones sounded, one occurring 300 ms before a collision avoidance tone. Two collision avoidance tones sounded in each scenario, one associated with a braking lead vehicle and the other a false alarm. The results show that annoyance is an important sound characteristic that can affect workload. The results also indicate that urgency is a sound characteristic that affects driving performance. In addition, the strong effect of sound parameters on annoyance suggest that Edworthy's urgency mapping principle should be complemented by an annoyance tradeoff principle.

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