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The Effect of eHMI Malfunctions on Younger and Elderly Pedestrians’ Trust and Acceptance of Automated Vehicle Communication Signals

To ensure traffic flow and road safety in automated driving, external human–machine interfaces (eHMIs) could prospectively support the interaction between automated vehicles (AVs; SAE Level 3 or higher) and pedestrians if implicit communication is insufficient. Particularly elderly pedestrians (≥65 ...

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Autores principales: Hensch, Ann-Christin, Kreißig, Isabel, Beggiato, Matthias, Krems, Josef F.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9110857/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35592174
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.866475
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author Hensch, Ann-Christin
Kreißig, Isabel
Beggiato, Matthias
Krems, Josef F.
author_facet Hensch, Ann-Christin
Kreißig, Isabel
Beggiato, Matthias
Krems, Josef F.
author_sort Hensch, Ann-Christin
collection PubMed
description To ensure traffic flow and road safety in automated driving, external human–machine interfaces (eHMIs) could prospectively support the interaction between automated vehicles (AVs; SAE Level 3 or higher) and pedestrians if implicit communication is insufficient. Particularly elderly pedestrians (≥65 years) who are notably vulnerable in terms of traffic safety might benefit of the advantages of additional signals provided by eHMIs. Previous research showed that eHMIs were assessed as useful means of communication in AVs and were preferred over exclusively implicit communication signals. However, the attitudes of elderly users regarding technology usage and acceptance are ambiguous (i.e., less intention to use technology vs. a tendency toward overreliance on technology compared to younger users). Considering potential eHMI malfunctions, an appropriate level of trust in eHMIs is required to ensure traffic safety. So far, little research respected the impact of multiple eHMI malfunctions on participants’ assessment of the system. Moreover, age effects were rarely investigated in eHMIs. In the current monitor-based study, N = 36 participants (19 younger, 17 elderly) repeatedly assessed an eHMI: During an initial measurement, when encountering a valid system and after experiencing eHMI malfunctions. Participants indicated their trust and acceptance in the eHMI, feeling of safety during the interaction and vigilance toward the eHMI. The results showed a positive effect of interacting with a valid system that acted consistently to the vehicle’s movements compared to an initial assessment of the system. After experiencing eHMI malfunctions, participants’ assessment of the system declined significantly. Moreover, elderly participants assessed the eHMI more positive across all conditions than younger participants did. The findings imply that participants considered the vehicle’s movements as implicit communication cues in addition to the provided eHMI signals during the encounters. To support traffic safety and smooth interactions, eHMI signals are required to be in line with vehicle’s movements as implicit communication cues. Moreover, the results underline the importance of calibrating an appropriate level of trust in eHMI signals. An adequate understanding of eHMI signals needs to be developed. Thereby, the requirements of different user groups should be specifically considered.
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spelling pubmed-91108572022-05-18 The Effect of eHMI Malfunctions on Younger and Elderly Pedestrians’ Trust and Acceptance of Automated Vehicle Communication Signals Hensch, Ann-Christin Kreißig, Isabel Beggiato, Matthias Krems, Josef F. Front Psychol Psychology To ensure traffic flow and road safety in automated driving, external human–machine interfaces (eHMIs) could prospectively support the interaction between automated vehicles (AVs; SAE Level 3 or higher) and pedestrians if implicit communication is insufficient. Particularly elderly pedestrians (≥65 years) who are notably vulnerable in terms of traffic safety might benefit of the advantages of additional signals provided by eHMIs. Previous research showed that eHMIs were assessed as useful means of communication in AVs and were preferred over exclusively implicit communication signals. However, the attitudes of elderly users regarding technology usage and acceptance are ambiguous (i.e., less intention to use technology vs. a tendency toward overreliance on technology compared to younger users). Considering potential eHMI malfunctions, an appropriate level of trust in eHMIs is required to ensure traffic safety. So far, little research respected the impact of multiple eHMI malfunctions on participants’ assessment of the system. Moreover, age effects were rarely investigated in eHMIs. In the current monitor-based study, N = 36 participants (19 younger, 17 elderly) repeatedly assessed an eHMI: During an initial measurement, when encountering a valid system and after experiencing eHMI malfunctions. Participants indicated their trust and acceptance in the eHMI, feeling of safety during the interaction and vigilance toward the eHMI. The results showed a positive effect of interacting with a valid system that acted consistently to the vehicle’s movements compared to an initial assessment of the system. After experiencing eHMI malfunctions, participants’ assessment of the system declined significantly. Moreover, elderly participants assessed the eHMI more positive across all conditions than younger participants did. The findings imply that participants considered the vehicle’s movements as implicit communication cues in addition to the provided eHMI signals during the encounters. To support traffic safety and smooth interactions, eHMI signals are required to be in line with vehicle’s movements as implicit communication cues. Moreover, the results underline the importance of calibrating an appropriate level of trust in eHMI signals. An adequate understanding of eHMI signals needs to be developed. Thereby, the requirements of different user groups should be specifically considered. Frontiers Media S.A. 2022-05-03 /pmc/articles/PMC9110857/ /pubmed/35592174 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.866475 Text en Copyright © 2022 Hensch, Kreißig, Beggiato and Krems. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Psychology
Hensch, Ann-Christin
Kreißig, Isabel
Beggiato, Matthias
Krems, Josef F.
The Effect of eHMI Malfunctions on Younger and Elderly Pedestrians’ Trust and Acceptance of Automated Vehicle Communication Signals
title The Effect of eHMI Malfunctions on Younger and Elderly Pedestrians’ Trust and Acceptance of Automated Vehicle Communication Signals
title_full The Effect of eHMI Malfunctions on Younger and Elderly Pedestrians’ Trust and Acceptance of Automated Vehicle Communication Signals
title_fullStr The Effect of eHMI Malfunctions on Younger and Elderly Pedestrians’ Trust and Acceptance of Automated Vehicle Communication Signals
title_full_unstemmed The Effect of eHMI Malfunctions on Younger and Elderly Pedestrians’ Trust and Acceptance of Automated Vehicle Communication Signals
title_short The Effect of eHMI Malfunctions on Younger and Elderly Pedestrians’ Trust and Acceptance of Automated Vehicle Communication Signals
title_sort effect of ehmi malfunctions on younger and elderly pedestrians’ trust and acceptance of automated vehicle communication signals
topic Psychology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9110857/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35592174
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.866475
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