Enabling multitasking by designing for situation awareness within the vehicle environment

Abstract

In the driving environment, competition exists between Driving Related Activities (DRAs) and Non-Driving Related Activities (NDRAs). This is a source of inattention and human error. Continual proliferation of in-vehicle information systems (IVIS) presents drivers with opportunities for distraction. Drivers simultaneously manage DRAs alongside unrelated but cognitively demanding NDRAs. Vehicle designers need ways of understanding human capability in such situations to provide solutions that accommodate these conflicting demands. This paper proposes a framework intended to address such challenges, rooted in the widely accepted construct of Situation Awareness (SA). However, SA theory does not presently accommodate disparate unrelated goal-driven tasks performed in parallel. This framework reconciles the present reality of drivers simultaneously devoting cognitive resources to attain SA for multiple activities by proposing a separate body of knowledge for each active goal. Additionally, the process of achieving SA is expanded to incorporate this concurrent development of separate bodies of goal-directed knowledge. The advantage of reconceptualising SA for driving allows consideration of interface design which minimises the impact of competing activities. The aim is a framework facilitating creation of IVIS that help drivers succeed in multi-goal multitasking situations. Implications of the proposed framework for theory, design, and industry-driven automotive safety efforts are discussed.

Unconstrained design: improving multitasking with in-vehicle information systems through enhanced situation awareness

“…Constrained Design and Vehicle Automation have a role to play but ultimately neither is addressing effectively the crucial problem of distraction on the roadway. The theoretical approach described in (Skrypchuk et al, 2019) and the experimental evidence presented in this paper, outline the potential for SA-based Unconstrained Design to enhance performance in an automotive multitasking situation. This may lead to IVIS design that can support a driver to multitask in the vehicle in a safe and efficient manner.…”

“…The potential incentive for the vehicle manufacturer is increased customer satisfaction while reducing the impact of the Fear of Missing Out. This paper builds upon the theoretical approach taken in (Skrypchuk et al, 2019) to develop and evaluate IVIS that aim to improve task performance during an in-vehicle multitasking situation.…”

Task Interruption and Control Recovery Strategies After Take-Over Requests Emphasize Need for Measures of Situation Awareness

“…Kaber & Endsley, 1997) have been widely discussed as important concepts for transitions between automation modes (see, for example, de Winter, Happee, Martens, & Stanton, 2014; Merat et al, 2019 for overviews). Skrypchuk, Langdon, Sawyer, Mouzakitis, and Clarkson (2018) summarize that to regain SA in a vehicle environment the driver has to know “where and when to focus attention from moment to moment” (p. 111). The authors further suggest that based on the information available to a driver (e.g., from driving experience, alarms, visual cues), the driver will decide which aspects of the driving environment to attend to.…”

“…However, in complex situations where drivers cannot fall back on learned schemata, lower priority subtasks for driving may be neglected (cf. Skrypchuk et al, 2018). During a transition from an automated mode back to manual control, an operator needs to prioritize subtasks to reallocate attention.…”

“…Attention reallocation and prioritization, and therefore SA, during mode transitions may therefore partially be operationalized as the operator’s visual attention and his or her actions during the transition. Accordingly, Skrypchuk et al (2018) suggest that to update their driving-related SA drivers will frequently glance at the roadway, mirrors, blind spots, and the instrument cluster. A time to SA can therefore be inferred from the driver’s visual attention allocation strategy and his or her actions during the transition to manual driving.…”