Can't Take My Eyes off You: Increasing Task Involvement in Cooperative Driving With Natural Habituated Interfaces

Vehicle automation is one of the challenges for future transportation, and the question of how to design future interfaces remains unanswered. The goal of this study is to compare two cooperative approaches using (a) a natural habituated steering wheel and (b) a touchscreen interface with (c) an SAE L3 manual take-over approach. We conducted a driving simulator experiment with 26 participants who experienced several overtaking scenarios. Our findings suggest that the manual take-over approach requires more attentional resources than cooperative approaches. Moreover, we observed higher task engagement in the safety-critical phases of the overtaking manoeuvre when using the steering wheel, which could there-after result in safer driving behaviour. Additionally, participants reported that they prefer the steering wheel interface over the touchscreen interface. In conclusion, the natural habituated approach and using the steering wheel interface should be considered when designing the driver-vehicle interaction for SAE L3 vehicles.