Trust in AV

Abstract

Autonomous vehicles (AVs) have the potential to improve road safety. Trust in AVs, especially among pedestrians, is vital to alleviate public skepticism. Yet much of the research has focused on trust between the AV and its driver/passengers. To address this shortcoming, we examined the interactions between AVs and pedestrians using uncertainty reduction theory (URT). We empirically verified this model with a user study in an immersive virtual reality environment (IVE). The study manipulated two factors: AV driving behavior (defensive, normal and aggressive) and the traffic situation (signalized and unsignalized). Results suggest that the impact of aggressive driving on trust in AVs depends on the type of crosswalk. At signalized crosswalks the AV's driving behavior had little impact on trust, but at unsignalized crosswalks the AV's driving behavior was a major determinant of trust. Our findings shed new insights on trust between AVs and pedestrians.

Pedestrian Trust in Automated Vehicles: Role of Traffic Signal and AV Driving Behavior

“…Although pedestrian interaction with HDVs has been studied extensively (Schmidt and Färber, 2009;Schneemann and Gohl, 2016;, only recently have scholars started to explore pedestrian interactions with AVs (Pillai, 2017;Deb et al, 2018;Fuest et al, 2018;Jayaraman et al, 2018).…”

“…Nonetheless, AVs have to be accepted by those who choose to ride in them as well as by pedestrians and other road users outside the AVs. Owing to the vulnerability of pedestrians in roadway interactions, there is now a growing interest in studying pedestrian trust in AVs (Saleh et al, 2017;Jayaraman et al, 2018).…”

Communication between Autonomous Vehicles and Pedestrians: An Experimental Study Using Virtual Reality

“…In addition to the various eHMI designs and positioning on the AVs, there are studies that explored the interaction in different traffic situations (signalized and unsignalized). In their study, Jayaraman et al [ 20 ] manipulated two variables: AV driving behavior (defensive, normal, and aggressive) and traffic signalization (signalized and unsignalized). The results showed that depending on the type of crossing, aggressive driving reduces faith in AVs.…”

Extended Reality (XR) and Gamification in the context of the Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI)

“…Recently, the use of virtual environments to research pedestrian-automated vehicle interactions has been explored, with Deb et al concluding that virtual environments can simulate pedestrian actions with sufficient re-alism to mirror real-world results [182]. Jayaraman et al applied a similar concept, using the Unity Game Engine to develop a simulator that collected information on pedestrian-AV interactions [190], creating "an accurate long-term pedestrian crosswalk behavior (trajectory) prediction model" from synthetic data [190].…”

“…Many of these tools and applications are designed using popular game engines. The Unity Game Engine is one option that has been used successfully in pedestrian simulation [190]. This multi-platform engine allows developers to create simulated environment where they can spawn or destroy of (Game)objects [161,7].…”