Switch

Abstract: Having been looking in to the subject of future truck interior environment, the first intention was to be inspired of the extreme environment of long haul-age truck driving and improving the user needs. By looking in to the human factors in truck interiors. I wanted to show the benefits of the truck architecture possibilities and recreate it for a new future truck user. By using the main design tools like design research, sketching, full scale projection and quick user testing I could get a quick look into the complexity of current truck driver environment and proceed with developing it further. The final result is a semi-autonomous truck interior that is suited for a new type of future driver. The interior is focused on the user needs and tasks such as; autonomous management of logistics, operating routes with other truck drivers and units, enjoying spare time while not driving and also the possibility to actively taking over the control manually in case of emergency. By separating and dividing the truck interior in different divisions and user modes, such as Operational, Tactical and Strategic, that divides the specific functions above, the architecture can maintain a clear separation between work and leisure for the driver when he or she is driving or not. This way the driver could easily switch between the modes to reduce the cognitive impact of increasing future information cognitive impact, without losing the sense of control and create a safe and comfortable work environment for herself. The concept is based on the knowledge of a flexible future context that is facing the automotive industry by reducing ergonomic impact for the drivers and improving it further through the flexibility to switch between modes.