12: Adjunct Proceedings - Automotive User Interfaces and ...

Figure 1. The front-seat passenger and the driver are navigating
with different devices trough unfamiliar areas
Our aim with this work was also to point out the benefits that can
be achieved from a deeper understanding of the collaborative in
car activities that already take place around these systems. As
inspiration for example the work by Nomura and colleagues [17]
shows how experienced teams are able to accomplish complex
navigation tasks faster, and with less errors than individuals.
One can then argue how current ADAS already are used this way
as we can see both in the second described episode, but also in the
data provided by Brown and Laurier [1]. Our argument, however,
is how it also needs to be an explicit aim when designing these
systems. Future ADAS should be designed in a way that they
open up for and also support these coordination and collaborative
activities. This should help to get drivers into the loop of
collaborating when there is a front-seat passenger and the
situation requires it.
5.2 Control
Although appearing very particular, the second episode of our
research shows that a front-seat passenger also likes to share the
basic information about the car (i.e., current speed). In terms of
displays in the dashboard, this means that also the front-seat
passengers wants to be informed about the current speed level of
the car. Of course, we admit that ADAS in some cases have
advantages over human assistance in preventing accidents (e.g.,
automated breaking to reduce speed). As researchers and
designers we should keep in mind that to give away the total
control of the driving task by (semi-) autonomous systems is
always a matter of trust [18], for the driver and additionally for all
passengers. Therefore, making passengers more aware of the
driving performance and the car data in general is not just a matter
of front-seat passenger assistance, but also a matter of comfort for
the passengers. Additionally, our research confirms the need for a
separate passenger interface, especially for navigation purposes.
Since passengers are not busy with driving, they can for example
use maps with a higher interactivity and information density.
We argue not to provide only basic information about the car to
the front-seat passenger but also specific situation based
information. This gives the driver the opportunity to use the frontseat
passenger as a reminder. We state that future ACDAS should
not be designed to encourage passenger intervention more than
the driver appreciates. A fundamental question that arises in this
context is: Should the front-seat passenger be in the position to
intervene in any circumstances?
5.3 Adapted Assistance
We also observed how passengers often adapted their assistance,
which is not underpinned with a described episode, depending on
the stress level and current state of the driver. As stated before,
passengers could potentially keep track of the more detailed
information in stressful situations while the driver could then be
freed from information that is not directly connected to the
primary task of driving the car. While people who are
friends/colleagues know each other, this is not always the case for
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Adjunct Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Automotive User Interfaces and
Interactive Vehicular Applications (AutomotiveUI '12), October 17–19, 2012, Portsmouth, NH, USA
all driver-passenger pairs. Some passengers might miss how the
driver would need assistance. Or it might be annoying for some
drivers when a passenger knows that the driver is in a bad state
and gives unwanted assistance. We envision a system that keeps
the front-seat passenger and the driver updated about the current
traffic situation and perhaps also the state of the driver. This
would allow the passenger to adjust assistance.
According to Wandke [21], knowledge of human assistance could
be used to guide design of future ADAS to allow for more adapted
behavior. Our ethnographic study provides knowledge of the
establishing phase in human collaboration, in which the passenger
approaches the driver and somehow tests how the mental state of
the driver is. Based on the driver`s reaction, the passenger judges
how to communicate with him and what kind of assistance to
give.
Interactive technology should employ some of the same processes
and adapt its behavior based on the driver’s reaction. Changes
observed in human communication for example include
interrupted or delayed communication patterns, which is
something future ADAS for a single-entity potentially also could
incorporate and then perhaps adapt the length of information
units.
Summarizing, we can see how a deeper understanding of human
collaboration and assistance while driving is a great resource in
the development of future more collaborative in-car assistance
systems, called ACDAS.
6. CONCLUSION
The front seat passenger interaction space is not sufficiently
covered in current vehicle interface solutions. With our two
described episode of our ethnographic fieldwork, we draw
attention to findings that can be used to inform future automobile
collaborative approaches. An interface that will be designed
according to the needs and behavior of both the driver and the
front-seat passenger could establish a common ground. This will
let them coordinate activities together and will help to get the
driver into the loop of collaborating with the front-seat passenger.
Navigation systems and speedometers for instance could be also
oriented towards the front-seat passenger, who then could initiate
a complex search task and make it easier for the driver. We see
how a deeper understanding of human collaboration in the car can
be a fundamental part in the development of future in car
assistance systems.
7. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The financial support by the Federal Ministry of Economy,
Family and Youth and the National Foundation for Research,
Technology and Development is gratefully acknowledged
(Christian Doppler Laboratory for “Contextual Interfaces”). Our
thanks to ACM SIGCHI for allowing us to modify templates they
had developed.
8. REFERENCES
1. Brown, B. and Laurier, E. The normal, natural troubles of
driving with GPS. In Proc. CHI forthcoming.
2. Bubb, H. Fahrerassistenz - Primär ein Beitrag zum Komfort
oder für die Sicherheit. VDI-Berichte 1768 (2003), 25-44.
3. Bull, M. Automobility and the power of sound. Theory,
Culture & Society, 21(2005), 243-260.
4. Esbjörnsson, M., et al. Watching the cars go round: designing
for active spectating at sport events. In Proc. CHI 2005. ACM
Press (2005), 1221-1224.