Speech Auditory Alerts Promote Memory for Alerted Events in a Video-Simulated Self-Driving Car Ride

Area of Science:

• Human-computer interaction
• Automotive engineering
• Cognitive psychology

Background:

• Autonomous vehicles require drivers to maintain situation awareness while performing secondary tasks.
• Auditory displays are proposed as a key technology for enhancing driver awareness in self-driving cars.
• Limited research exists on the efficacy of various auditory display types in autonomous vehicles.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of different auditory display types (speech alerts, auditory icons) compared to a visual control for maintaining situation awareness in autonomous vehicles.
• To assess the impact of auditory alerts on memory for critical events during simulated autonomous driving with a secondary task.

Main Methods:

• An experiment was conducted using a video-simulated autonomous vehicle ride.
• Participants performed a visual secondary task while receiving alerts via speech, auditory icons, or a visual display.
• Memory for alerted events, a component of Level 1 situation awareness, was measured.

Main Results:

• Speech alerts significantly improved memory for alerted events compared to auditory icons and visual controls.
• Both speech alerts and auditory icons reduced perceived effort for study tasks.
• Auditory displays, including speech alerts, led to increased perceived annoyance.

Conclusions:

• Speech auditory displays are effective in enhancing Level 1 situation awareness in simulated autonomous vehicle scenarios.
• Despite their effectiveness, the annoyance associated with auditory displays needs to be addressed for practical implementation.
• Auditory displays show promise for improving driver monitoring in autonomous vehicles during routine conditions.