The interface challenge for semi-automated vehicles: how driver behavior and trust influence information requirements over time

Understanding how best to present information inside a semi-automated vehicle is a prevalent challenge in HMI design. There is an understanding that a driver's trust and previous driving experience can affect the information they require inside a semi-automated vehicle. However, to date little is known about how these predispositions specifically affect the types of information that should be presented and importantly, how this changes with increased exposure to an automated system. In this paper, seventeen participants experienced twenty-six minutes of an automated driving simulation once every day for a week. The information to display was carefully chosen in accordance with the Skills, Rules, Knowledge model. The information was synchronized to the driving simulation and presented on a tablet in the driving simulator. Eye tracking was used to measure the information looked at. The results showed that trust increased significantly with increased exposure, but this had no correlation to any specific piece of information viewed. Drivers who were more prone to making lapses or errors (as measured by the Driver Behavior Questionnaire) tended towards using information that was less cognitively demanding. Finally, a driver's propensity to making lapses was found to be a potential early predictor of trust, but this became less accurate with increased exposure to the semi-automated vehicle.