Would I consent if it monitors me better? A technology acceptance comparison of BCI-based and unobtrusive driver monitoring systems

BCI devices used as passive sensors represent a frontier for monitoring people and to know their inner states. In the automotive domain, driver monitoring systems look at such technologies to monitor at a greater level of details both cognitive and emotional states of drivers, to the aim of understanding their driving conditions and to react timely in case they are judged as dangerous from the safety perspective. This study aims at understanding if brain imaging sensors, in their less invasive forms, could be accepted by people for the sake of an increased safety while driving. To this purpose, a survey has been designed to assess people’s attitude towards safety-enhanced driving scenarios enabled by driver monitoring systems and towards different kinds of sensors that can be leveraged for the monitoring function. The results obtained from 188 Italian people show that the safety increase of a DMS solution is considered as valuable, and that BCI solutions are considered trustworthy to the purpose, despite the perceived discomfort in use that represents the most significant difference in comparison with other unobtrusive sensors.