Comprehension of Haptic Seat Displays for Integrated Driver Warning Systems

Abstract

Twenty-two haptic seat collision warning patterns were evaluated in a non-driving context to identify a smaller set for subsequent testing in a driving context. Different patterns were intended to convey blind spot, lane drift, forward collision, and sharp-curve-ahead warnings. Fifty-four test participants experienced a single 2–3 second exposure to each warning pattern while performing a continuous distraction task in a simulator buck with a haptic cushion. The test participant was surrounded by seven static images of driving conditions, one for each warning. The test participant was asked to report his or her association of the experienced haptic pattern with one of the seven driving conditions. The test participant could also respond “I don't know.” The comprehension of several patterns was as good as or better than that recently reported for visual collision warning symbols (Campbell et. al., 2004). One pattern was found that might serve as an excellent ‘general alert’. Some directionally similar patterns were found to degrade comprehension of patterns previously demonstrated to be well understood.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Campbell

Hoffmeister

Kiefer

Selke

Green

Richman

(2004). Comprehension testing of active safety symbols (Paper No. 2004–01–0450). Paper presented at the Society of Automotive Engineers 2004 World Congress, Detroit, MI.

Cummings

M. L.

Wang

Tijerina

Kochhar

(2006). Integrating Intelligent Driver Warning Systems: Effects of Multiple Alarms and Distraction on Driver Performance. Proceedings of the 85th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board, Washington, D. C.

Jeftic

Engstrom

Piamonte

, (2003). Potential Safety Benefits of Lane Departure Warning Systems Lane Departure Warning Systems on Swedish Roads- Prestudy; Vägverket Publication 2003:14 ISBN: 1401–9612.

Lee

Hoffman

Hayes

(2004). Collision warning design to mitigate driver distraction. Paper presented at the Computer Human Interaction (CHI) 2004 Conference, 24–29 April, Vienna.

Tijerina

Johnston

Parmer

Pham

H. A.

Winterbottom

M. D.

Barickman

F. S.

(September, 2000). Preliminary studies in haptic displays for rear-end collision avoidance system and adaptive cruise control applications. (Report No. DOT HS 809 151). Washington, DC: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

University of Michigan, Transportation Research Institute, Visteon Corp., Assistware Technologies, Inc. (September 5, 2003). Road Departure Crash Warning Field Operational test: RDCW-FOT Interim Report on Road Departure Crash Warning Subsystems.