Sensor-Actuator Supported Implicit Interaction in Driver Assistance Systems

316 Pages·2010·3.31 MB·German

by  Andreas Riener

Andreas Riener
Sensor-Actuator Supported Implicit Interaction
in Driver Assistance Systems
VIEWEG+TEUBNER RESEARCH
Andreas Riener
Sensor-Actuator
Supported Implicit
Interaction in Driver
Assistance Systems
With forewords by Univ.-Prof. Dr. Alois Ferscha
and Prof. Dr. Albrecht Schmidt
VIEWEG+TEUBNER RESEARCH
Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie;
detailed bibliographic data are available in the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de.
Dissertation Universität Linz, 2009
Gedruckt mit Unterstützung des Bundesministeriums
für Wissenschaft und Forschung in Wien.
1st Edition 2010
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ISBN 978-3-8348-0963-6
Foreword
Technologicaladvances,miniaturizationofembeddedcomputingtechnologyandwirelesscom-
municationtogetherwiththeevolutionofglobalnetworksliketheInternethavebroughtthe
vision of pervasive and ubiquitous computing to life: technology seamlessly woven into the
“fabricofeverydaylife”. Alongwiththisdevelopmentgoestheneedandchallengeofinter-
facessupportinganintuitive,unobtrusiveanddistractionfreeinteractionwithsuchtechnology-
richenvironments.Consideringthehugeamount,andevergrowingnumberofavastmanifold
ofheterogeneous,small,embeddedormobiledevicesshapingthe“pervasivecomputingland-
scape”, makes traditional, explicit and attention based styles of interaction appear hopeless.
Tomakecomputingpartofeverydaylife, theinterfacingmustgobeyondtraditionalexplicit
interaction: pervasive computing system designs will have to – and are already successfully
attemptingto–reverttheprincipleoftheuserbeinginanactiveandattentiverole,toonewhere
technologyisattentiveandactive.Interactionisbecomingimplicit.
Implicitinteractionisbasedontwomainconcepts: perceptionandinterpretation. Percep-
tion concerns gathering information about the environment and situations, usually involving
(technological)sensors. Interpretationisthemechanismtounderstandthesenseddata. Con-
ceptually, perception and interpretation when combined are described as situational context.
Asystemawareofitssituationalcontextdoesnothavetobeexplicitlyforcedtoact(bythe
user),butbycollectingandinterpretinginformationaboutitsenvironmentcanautonomously
triggeractions. Inputisnotnecessarilyexplicitlystatedorintentionallygiven,butthesystem
understandstheinformationitcollectsasinput. Theactive, drivingroleintheinteractionis
thusmovedfromtheusertothesystem. Consequently,theuserdoesnothavetobeattentive
andresponsivetoaplethoraofdevices,butthedevices–assingleentitiesorasensemblesof
cooperativeentities–developa“sense”fortheuser,andactaccordingly.
AndreasRienerhasearlyidentifieddriver-vehicleinterfacesasoneoftheseemerging“perva-
sivecomputinglandscapes”,i.e. complexconfigurationsoftechnologicalsystemcomponents
andservices,and“implicitinteraction”thereinasamajorresearchchallenge. Seenfromthe
technologicalperspective,advanceddriverassistancesystemsandin-vehicleinformationand
entertainmentsystemshaveexperiencedanexplosivegrowthoverthepasttwodecades, and
arenowamongthemostresearchedpervasivecomputingsystemsattheconfluenceofindus-
trialandacademicresearchendeavors.Thesearchforknowledgefromacomputerscienceand
engineeringviewpointisoftenmotivatedbypracticalaswellasindustrialapplicationsandis
oftennotfarremovedfromthegoalofpracticalutility.Thespectrumofdisciplinesincreasingly
engagingtoanswertheresearchquestionsraisedoutofthisdomainis,however,overwhelming.
Psychologicalandpsycho-physiologicalresearchattemptstounderstandthemultifacetedrela-
tionsamongthedifferentmodalitiesofstimulusandperceptionorsensation,theindividualrole
VI Foreword
andsynesthesiaofsenseorgansforperception,themodelingandrecognitionofvitalstatefrom
biosignals,memorizingandrecallingsensation,etc.Neurophysiologicalresearchandcognitive
scienceaddressestheissuesofattention,memory,learning,perceptionandactionfromamore
behavioralaspect.Evensociologicalresearchengagestoexplainanddeliverempiricalevidence
forphenomenaobservedwhensocio-technicalsystemslikedriver-vehiclesystemsareusedat
largescale.Thequestionsposedandthemethodsusedtoconductresearchwithinthisfieldare
asvariedasarethedisciplinesdevotedtoit.
ThequestionsposedbyAndreasRienerinthisbookconcernin-vehicleinteractiondesign
issues,particularlythepotentialutilityofhapticsandvibrotactilestimulation,aswellasdriver
anddrivervitalstaterecognitionfromembeddedsensors,bothfromatechnologicalperspective.
Usabilityengineeringresearchmethodsareadopted,andempiricalevidenceisdeliveredfrom
casesinvolvingrealusersandrealsystems.
Sincethebeginningofresearchinautomotiveuserinterfaces, avarietyofscientificdisci-
plines and research effortshave addressed the role of the sense of touchfor perception, and
passiveinteractionforarticulation. Theparticularresults,theindividualfindings,therelated
bodyofliterature,however,havenotyetledtoacomprehensivetheoryof“hapticperception”,
or“implicitinteraction”. Thiswork,forthefirsttime,systematicallysortsoutpreviouscontri-
butionstoanswerinterfacedesignissueswherehapticperceptionmeltswithimplicitinteraction
inatechnology-richsettingofeverydayuse: thecar. Itclarifiesmanyfacetsofwheretheuse
ofhapticsisbeneficialindriver-vehicleinteractions,andexemplifieshowcurrentautomotive
interfacescanbeimproved.Manifoldarethefindingsthatconcerntheinteractionloopfromthe
drivertothevehicleandback,someofthemelucidatingbasicprinciplesofhapticsininterface
design-notrestrictedtotheautomotivedomain. Manifoldarealsothefindingsthatpostulate
humanattentionandsituationawarenessastheprimaryautomotiveinterfacedesignconcerns.
Fortunately, however, alsomanyquestionsremainunanswered. Amongthemostfundamen-
talonesthatthisbookraises, isthescientificclarificationoftheprocessfromhumanhaptic
per-ceptiontocognition,andmodelsformemorizing,remembering,learningandforgetting-
withinandoutsidethedomainofautomotiveinterfaceapplications.
AloisFerscha
Foreword
IhadthepleasuretobetheexternalexaminerforthePhDdissertationbyAndreasRiener. At
theMenschandComputerconferenceinLübeck,Germany,Andreasgavemeafirstdraft. At
first,Iwasabitshockedbythesizeofthedocument(ifIrememberright–closeto300pages).
WhenIstartedtoreadthethesisIwasprettyimpressedbytheamountofrelatedworkAndreas
cited that I did not know before. For me this is always a good indicator that students have
diveddeepintotheirtopic. Theexperimentalpartoftheworkisexcitinginasimilarway. I
havecomeacrossanumberofnewapproachesforexperiments;myfavoriteoneiswhereAlois
Ferscha’spassionforcarracingbecomesclearlyevident.Afurtherreasonwhyhisdissertation
isexcitingisthatAndreasdidtheresearchinthecontextofchallengingreal-worldprojectsand
applications.
As the basic technologies (processing, wireless networks, sensors, and actuators) become
morewidelyavailabletheytransformvehiclesandinparticularcarsintointeractivecomputer
systems. Carsarecurrentlybecomingaplatformandinteractioninthisdomainisverychal-
lengingduetotheprimarytaskofdriving.Embeddingcomputing,communication,andservices
intovehiclesistechnicallypossible;however,makingapplicationsusableandsafetousewhile
drivingisstillanopenissue. Thisbookdescribesresearchatthecrossroadsofpervasivecom-
putingandhumancomputerinteraction(HCI),addressingthequestionhowtoexploitexplicit
aswellasimplicitinteractionforautomotiveuserinterfaces.Thecentralpartoftheresearchis
theassessmentofusingthehumansenseoftouchandinparticulartactilemodalitiesasanaddi-
tionalinteractionchannelfordrivers.Howtoefficientlysensetheuser’sstateandintentionsand
howtoeffectivelycommunicateinformationtotheuserwithoutincreasingthecognitiveload
isahardscientificchallenge. Withhisprototypes, experiments, andempiricaldataAndreas
Rienermakesimportantcontributionstothisresearchfield. Withhisworkhemovesforward
andshowsasystematicapproachforunderstandingvibro-tactileinteractioninthecar. There-
searchquestionsfacedinthisnewdomainarenotasclearasinestablishedfieldsandfindingan
appropriateandacceptedresearchmethodologyispartofthework.Especiallywithanincrease
incomplexityoffunctionalityprovidedinthecarcreatinguserinterfacesthatarestilleasyand
savetouseisverydifficult.Theworkpresentedinthisbookispracticallyapplicable,relevant,
andimportant.
Themaincontributionsofthebookareintwoareas: (i)theassessmentanduseofsitting
postureofthedriverand(ii)theinvestigationofvibro-tactilecommunicationandinteraction
asanadditionalchannelinautomotiveHCI.Overalltheresearchshows, basedonempirical
validation, that introducing these new modalities can lessen workload and improve reaction
time. The research reported is anchored in a large number of prototypes and systems that
AndreasRienerhasdevelopedduringhisresearch.
VIII Foreword
Thebodyofworkwhichisthebasisofthisbookisremarkable. Theworkexemplarilyex-
plainsabroadsetofmethodsandtoolsandtheresultsarerelevantfordesigningnovelcaruser
interfaces. Despitemyinitialshockonthenumberofpagesthisworkisworthwhileandvery
interestingtoread.
Prof.Dr.AlbrechtSchmidt
Preface
Advancesinmicroelectronicsandembeddedsystemstechnologyhaveacceleratedtheevolution
ofDriverAssistanceSystemstowardsmoredrivingsafety,comfort,entertainment,andwayfind-
ing.Thetechnologicalandqualitativeprogress,however,resultsinasteadilyrisinginteraction
complexity,informationoverload,andintricateinterfacedesigns.Assessinginteractiondesigns
forin-carassistanceservicesisanemergingandvibrantfieldofresearch.
Inthiswork,implicitinteractioninDriver-VehicleInterfacesisintroducedforthepurpose
ofrelievingthedriverofcognitiveoverloadsituations. Today’smostfrequentlyusedsensory
modalitiesvision(seeing)andhearingareveryoftenhighlychargedduetoalargernumberand
complexityof(i)AdvancedDriverAssistanceSystems(ADAS)and/orIn-VehicleInformation
Systems(IVIS),(ii)infotainmentdevices,(iii)communicationappliances,andothers.
Thesesystemshaveoriginallybeendevelopedforprovidingsupporttothevehicledriver,but
unfortunatelytheiroperationandmonitoringincreasinglyhavethedisadvantageofresultingin
ahighcognitiveloadforthedrivingpersonandconsequentlyleadtooperationerrors,caused
by(i)overlookinginformationor(ii)missingimportantmessages. Anotherproblemcategory
aremodality-baseddistractionfactors,suchasglaringorreflectinglight,fog,snowfall,dayand
nightvision,andchanginglightconditionsforthevisualchannel,ormotorandtrafficnoise,
carstereo,passengercommunication,andcellphonecallsfortheauditorynotificationchannel.
Apart from these communication restrictions, possible solutions for the above-mentioned
problemshavebeeninvestigatedandthreesuitableoptionshavebeenidentified: (i)theintro-
ductionofoneormoreadditionalfeedbackchannels(afeedbackchannelinthiscontextisa
dedicatedwayforthedrivertointeractwiththevehicle),(ii)theoptimizationofexistingfeed-
backmodalities(e.g.,considerageorsex-relateddifferencesforthevisual,auditory,andother
interactionchannels),and(iii)theapplicationofmultimodalinterfaces(thisisasimultaneous
activationorstimulationoftwoormorefeedbackchannelsforthepurposeofnotifyingabout
onlyoneinformationalitem)incontrasttotheprimarilyappliedunimodalones.
Theintroductionandutilizationofmultimodalityisstraightforwardand,therefore,hasbeen
excludedfromthiswork;theremainingtwooptionshavebeenextensivelyanalyzedwithboth
simulatedandon-the-roadexperiments.
Thisresearchworkisstructuredasfollows: TheintroductoryPartIdefinescommonlyused
terms,describestraditionalconceptsofinformationprocessingbetweenadriverandthevehicle,
indicatesproblemsoccurringinmoderncars,andconcludeswithadefinitionofhypothesesand
researchquestions. PartII,whichisdedicatedtoaninvestigationofDriver-2-Vehicle(D2V)
interfaces,summarizesrelatedworkonvibro-tactilestimulationwiththeaimtomotivatethe
utilizationofthesenseoftouch.PartIIIconsidersinteractionfromadriver’sview,inparticular
its notification demands as well as possible causes of distraction, and gives suggestions for