The plurality of current infotainment devices within the in-vehicle space produces an unprecedented volume of incoming data that overwhelm the typical driver, leading to higher collision probability. This work presents an investigation to an alternative option which aims to manage the incoming information while offering an uncluttered and timely manner of presenting and interacting with the incoming data safely. The latter is achieved through the use of an augmented reality (AR) head-up display (HUD) system, which projects the information within the driver’s field of view. An uncluttered gesture recognition interface provides the interaction with the AR visuals. For the assessment of the system’s effectiveness, we developed a full-scale virtual reality driving simulator which immerses the drivers in challenging, collision-prone, scenarios. The scenarios unfold within a digital twin model of the surrounding motorways of the city of Glasgow. The proposed system was evaluated in contrast to a typical head-down display (HDD) interface system by 30 users, showing promising results that are discussed in detail.
The rapid mobilization of Emergency Services (ES) could be particularly challenging for ES drivers and staff that have to navigate and manoeuvre through various traffic and weather conditions. Driving, in high speeds through dense traffic is a particularly demanding psychomotor task for the ES drivers and could result in collisions and even fatalities. Current attempts to support the driver and reduce the potential driving hazards had limited success. The paper presents the design rationale of a prototype system that utilises Augmented Reality (AR) in the form of a Head-Up Display (HUD) to superimpose guidance information in the real-life environment. The paper will discuss also the requirements for an Artificial Intelligence (AI) system that could analyse the driving conditions and present the best manoeuvring options whilst maintain the road users' safety. Finally, the paper presents the requirements' framework for the development of the proposed AR/AI system based on the feedback and suggestions of ten ES drivers. Their feedback will be presented and discussed in detail as it provided essential insight into the everyday challenges of ES operations.
Emergency Services' (ES) vehicles primary objective is to attend accident or other incident scenes in a fast, safe and efficient manner. Yet this task is becoming increasingly difficult due to the increasing population and the plethora of emergency cases. These factors affect directly the traffic both within the urban and the rural environment, decreasing dramatically the time to arrive at the point of interest. Numerous Head-Down Display (HDD) systems have populated the dashboard area of the ES vehicles in order to tackle this issue, with limited success. To this end, the development of emerging technologies in both computing and telecommunications have enabled modern vehicular systems to assist drivers in their decision-making process. Head-Up Displays (HUD) present a combinatory approach of the aforementioned technologies, which present crucial information to the driver through Augmented Reality (AR) projection. In order to develop a design and development framework for the utilisation of AR and HUD technology, this paper presents the results of 50 drivers investigation related to their activities during immobile or slow-moving traffic which results in driver's distraction and inability to respond to the incoming ES vehicles. In turn, the paper discusses these results and offers an overview of the Human-Machine Interface requirements for a prototype HUD aiming to assist the safety, speed and manoeuvrability of the ES vehicles.
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