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

Reflecting their coping strategies, VAN services could
contribute to that frequent and critical situation in various ways.
Common activities conducted in the passenger seat or the
backseat area involved sleeping, controlling music, aiding
navigation, playing games, or socializing with other people in
the car. Currently, technologies used in the backseat contained
turning off the speakers, watching TV using screens in the back,
adjusting tint in the car, or warming seat in winter. They also
wanted more comfortable space and iPod chargers. Additional
information the participants wished from their car included
miles per gallon (i.e., miles left before you fill up), traffic
updates, navigation system, sending text messages, access to
the Google Maps or the MapQuest, blind spot information,
weather conditions, and overall friction in the tires, etc.
Here are participants’ thoughts about how future technologies
could support positive experiences in their car: a car that drives
itself and auto-park themselves, getting your work done while
in the car, relaxation during long trips, communication between
other cars to avoid accidents (e.g., cars brake on nearing a car
before), a car having spatial perception, a better working
internet (satellite) with high availability, a car tells a driver to
check air pressure and other status, etc.
In short, young drivers clearly showed that they have
motivations for a better network, communications with other
drivers or cars, and vehicle’s self-diagnosis. Researchers and
designers could start their concept making, not only from users’
wish list of the technologies, but also from their bad
experiences in a car to overcome those issues via VAN services.
2.3 Young Driver’s Comments & Concerns
about VAN Services
In the second part of the session, participants were shown and
explained about the details of the VAN service concepts and
asked to discuss issues and suggest ideas and usage scenarios.
Even though all of the participants were young students at the
technological university, they showed balanced perspectives on
the use of technology in a car rather than having blind faith
about technology.
Yellow Signal Helper In some groups, the participants
felt it is useful and they would use it. A participant suggested
adding some visual alerts, such as lights on the dashboard in
addition to audio alerts. In other groups, some participants
noted that they would make their own judgment, rather than
depending on the system. Others were concerned about a
driver’s confusion due to too much information or reverse
effects of rebellious people. Additional considerations included
the different length of the yellow light in a different location,
timing of the system alert, the distance from the signal, and
system’s awareness of a driver’ turning direction or reaction
time data.
Awareness of Others & Their Intentions Some participants
reported that it could be useful in a highway when cars cut right
across a driver. However, most of the participants suspected its
feasibility based on the current technology and they worried
about distraction caused by using this service. Also, they
pointed out that increasing dependency on this service might
allow drivers not to pay attention to the road, which accords
with previous research that shows automation will decrease
driver situation awareness [8].
Free Parking Slot Finder Some of our participants were
aware of this type of smart phone apps, (e.g., 'where is my car'),
166
Adjunct Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Automotive User Interfaces and
Interactive Vehicular Applications (AutomotiveUI '12), October 17–19, 2012, Portsmouth, NH, USA
but they found that the current apps have an accuracy issue.
Whereas most participants agreed to the need of this type of
service, they were skeptical about people’s voluntary marking
or registration for it. Instead, they believed that this service
should be implemented based on sensors in the parking spot
itself. Sizes of cars and handicapped parking lots should also be
considered in design.
Drive-by-Payments The first concern regarding this
concept is a security issue (e.g., ‘everyone in the car might look
at the password’, ‘signals could be intercepted while making
payments’). With guaranteed security, participants would favor
it. They added some scenarios, such as dry-cleaning payments,
amusement parks, in addition to all cases of parking. A
participant commented, if it becomes more widespread, it
would be more useful.
Steering Wheel Alerts There were some concerns about
using color displays on the wheel, but many more ideas were
obtained for the use of steering wheel alerts, including
low/empty gas, exceeded speed limit, not wearing a seat belt,
checking an engine. Another idea is just the use of the steering
wheel as a simple binary alert for drivers to check the
dashboard for the details. However, a participant brought up
another issue that haptic feedback using vibration could scare
people when they are already stressed out. Most of the
participants specifically liked the idea of a hand warmer (in
winter) and cooler (in summer) in addition to alerts.
Steering Wheel Heart Rate Monitor/ Invisible Health Check
Some people found that it is an interesting idea, but most
participants thought that it may not be generically useful for
everybody. However, they were positive about the use of this
type of service as an option for some specific populations, such
as old adults or people with health risks. Privacy concerns
should be considered.
Fatigue Meter/ Emotion Detection Commonly, participants
were worried about a driver’s over-reliance on the system.
Regarding the fatigue meter, they were relatively positive and
recommended using it for a truck driver who has to have long
drives regularly. In contrast, some participants were more
sensitive to the emotion detection concept than the fatigue
meter or previous health monitoring concepts. One participant
warned that this type of service could influence a driver’s
emotional status in a negative way. Nevertheless, they agreed
to use this system to prevent road rage.
Route Buddy Participants found the most useful case for
the memory and notification of the location of the police car.
Some said that it could be helpful for speeding, but others
believed that it might be more useful for potholes and wrecks
rather than stop signs or speed limits. Novice or student drivers
could benefit from this type of system.
Home Networking/ Entertainment on Demand Turning on
(before you get home) or turning off home appliances (stove or
hair straightener, etc) might be useful, but the participants
considered those cases as a backup rather than using it on a
regular basis. They also stated that it would be more useful for
old adults rather than young adults. It seemed that usability
matters here. Several participants gave concerned about the
plausible complication of the control. Other issues included
authentication and security threats (e.g., “make sure if car gets
stolen, then the thief can't access your whole house.”).
Nomadic Workstation Some participants favored this
idea in terms of more efficient use of their time. They stated a