Digital mirrors : Supplementary information to increase driver’s awareness of surroundings

Abstract: Replacement of physical rear-view mirrors with digital offer new possibilities for vision enhancements and supplementary information that could facilitate driving. However, the invehicle support systems and information contribute to increased mental workload of the driver and inadequate Human Machine Interface (HMI) can lead to distraction and impaired driving performance. Therefore, it is crucial to explore what relevant information can be implemented and how it should be designed regarding cognitive ergonomics to promote human information processing. The aim of the project was to create one or more concepts for supplementary information that could be implemented in the digital mirrors in order to increase driver’s awareness of the surroundings and therefore contribute to improved road safety. The design process consisted of a pre-study regarding cognitive ergonomics followed by three iterations including user interaction, literature studies, concept generation and evaluation with respect to acquired theoretical knowledge and tests with professional truck drivers. This approach allowed for identification of user demands and development a refined user oriented solution. The final concept was evaluated in a driving simulator with ten truck drivers to investigate potential effects on driver performance regarding detection of obstacles in blind spots, vehicle control and subjective opinions considering perceived mental workload and user acceptance. The evaluation resulted in significantly improved detection rate of vehicles in blind spots with the developed concept. Longitudinal and lateral vehicle control was not affected hence, the additional information did not distract the drivers. Furthermore, the drivers perceived mental workload was not increased and the user acceptance was significantly improved after the test indicating that drivers’ expectations were met and furthermore exceeded. The results of the study suggest that supplementary information in digital mirrors can be beneficial for improving driver’s awareness of the surroundings and should be further investigated.