EVO
YOUR FRIENDLY AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE
This project explores Multimodal Interactions in the coming future of Autonomous Vehicles (AVs).
It was a collaboration of WIPRO and NID where we explored futuristic use cases. In this particular case study we focused on how the AVs are interacting with Pedestrians and Non AVs.
FUTURISTIC DESIGN
AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE
ACADEMIC
MULTIMODAL INTERACTIONS
GROUP PROJECT
4 WEEKS - 2021
WHY?
People make eye contact with the driver before crossing the road.
How will an AV respond in this situation?
When a person is allowed to pass, an affirmative nod makes a positive bond.
How does an AV respond to a gesture?
Two drivers communicate with each other through gestures, voice, gaze, expression.
How does a human driver communicate with an AV?
Normally cars are parked at peace without any interactions.
How can the enhanced capabilities of AV make it more delightful while it’s parked?
WHat is multiMODAL INTERACTION?
Multimodal design utilizes multiple modalities to improve the user experience in products and services. This includes computer-to-human and human-to-computer interactions such as voice, text, touch, and taptic feedback.
“Designing multimodal experiences is an interdisciplinary effort.”
INTERACT (INPUT)
PERCEIVE (OUTPUT)
The future of mobility is progressing and different vehicle communication technologies are emerging. These are the seven types of Vehicle Communication Systems that can be seen in foreseen future.
Vehicle to Network (V2N)
The V2N communications enables autonomous vehicles to use cellular networks to communicate with the system.
04
Vehicle to Cloud (V2C)
V2C communication leverages V2N access to broadband cellular mobile networks to offer data exchange with the cloud.
07
Vehicle to Grid (V2G)
V2G provides bidirectional data between plug-in hybrid vehicles, battery electric vehicles, etc with the smart grid in support of electrification of transport.
02
Vehicle to Infrastructure (V2I)
V2I consists of bidirectional exchange of info between the vehicle & the road infrastructure like cameras, lights, speed limits, accidents, etc.
05
Vehicle to Pedestrian (V2P)
In V2P, vehicles behave differently near wheelchairs, bicycles, pedestrians & children playing to create awareness about its presence.
03
Vehicle to Vehicle (V2V)
In V2V, vehicles can share their speed, location as well as any other relevant info, giving a 360-degree representation of its surroundings with other vehicles.
06
Vehicle to Device (V2D)
V2D allow vehicles to exchange information with any smart devices around them usually via Bluetooth protocol.
A few questions that popped in our heads were :
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How will AVs communicate with the pedestrians?
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How will the pedestrians react to an AV in the street?
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How can we make the experience seamless?
Vehicle to Pedestrians (V2P).
SECONDARY RESEARCH
Source : Research article: Pedestrian Trust in Automated Vehicles: Role of Traffic Signal and AV Driving Behavior
Conducted with 30 participants
RESEARCH PAPER ONE
This study manipulated 2 factors that affected the pedestrians :
AV Driving Behaviour
Defensive (Gap acceptance >7s)
Normal (Gap acceptance 3-7s)
Aggressive (Gap acceptance <3s)
Crosswalk Type
Signalised Crossings
Unsignalised Crossings
INSIGHTS
Pedestrian behaviour recorded in this research were :
"Non verbal communication is important for trust." Based on pedestrians and human driven vehicles through eye contact, facial expressions and hand gestures primarily.
"AVs driving behaviour is a form of implicit communication." Whether it slows down or accelerates when a pedestrian shows a hand, etc.
Source : Communicating Awareness and Intent in Autonomous Vehicle-Pedestrian Interaction.
RESEARCH PAPER TWO
Modes of communicating with pedestrians :
Vehicle
Light
Visuals
Sounds
Vehicle and Street
Light
Visuals
Sounds
Vehicle and Pedestrians
Light
Visuals
Sounds
Haptics
When talked to the participants about these modes of communication, the participants assumed that these modes would be implemented in these ways :
Visuals
Display with signs/symbols
They cued towards display with road signs and symbols.
Display with text
They also felt that relevant text would be apt for a display
LED strip on car
Led strips as display was one more choice as it would implement colours
Embodiment of human face/eyes
Humanizing the AV with face and eyes, therefore emotions.
Audio
Car Sounds
When talked about audio the participants felt car sound would be apt
Nonverbal sounds
They also felt that the sound should be non verbal and not confusing.
Physical
Car lowering/rising
They felt a car can physically move low and rise up to explain
Actual hand
An actual hand with gestures and symbol was amongst the preferred.
Movement/motion of car
Movement of car could also be a physical cue for pedestrians
INSIGHTS
Participants behaviour recorded in this research were :
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Participants preferred to receive explicit information about the vehicle’s awareness and intent.
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Moreover, participants preferred specific cues rather than too many of them for certain scenarios.
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A large number of cues negatively impacts a person's ability to make a decision.
To start designing something, it is very important to set the context. These are the assumptions we took for the project, the design is relevant for :
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Unsignalised crossings
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Anyone can interact with an AV.
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Independent of special purpose devices.
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Looking at AV as public transport.
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Interactions with pedestrians are very short (<3 seconds)
POSSIBLE INPUTS AND OUTPUTS
While an AV might have made all the calculations to navigate a situation perfectly, how will the people outside know that it has done so and can be trusted?
“The idea is to communicate what AV is thinking. Effectively."
POSSIBLE INPUT MODALITIES
POSSIBLE OUTPUT MODALITIES
The aim was building trust between AV and the pedestrians. After the hours of research and discussions we came to these factors that influences the pedestrian's behaviour
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Trust builds over a period of time.
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Small things matter.
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Word of mouth matters.
POSSIBLE COMMUNICATION WITH AV
There can we two ways of communication with AV, one is IMPLICIT, where the AV slowing down to communicate intent, and the other is EXPLICIT, where the communication happens with Visual, Auditory and Physical modalities. We proceeded with Explicit Communications an made scenarios based on the same.
MOODBOARD
Before designing the Av we came up with a mood board where possible multimodal interactions can be implemented.
While designing the car, we used a minimal design approach. We felt that the lives for humans in general are very complicated, therefore we tried to keep this design as simple as possible. We were more focused towards the modalities that would be used for AV interacting with the pedestrians.
These are some places where modalities will be visible in the AV :
The front panel of the car can be used to communicate with the pedestrian on the road. They can be greeted, indicated with sign/symbols.
The panels on the lower front and on the wheels can be used to project information on to the road for pedestrians.
The side panels of the AV has huge space, this can also be used for text or visual messages meant for the pedestrians on the street.
The back panels can be used to display information for pedestrians on the back or any other non AV vehicles.
IDEATION
Source : The effect of ad smiles on consumer attitudes and intentions: influence of model gender and consumer gender
RESEARCH ARTICLE ONE
This study aimed to disentangle the effects of a smiling model in triggering different marketing objectives through the five steps of consumer response :
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Awareness
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Comprehension
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Attitude change
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Conviction and
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Action
INSIGHTS
Participants behaviour recorded in this research were :
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Smiling faces are recognised rapidly and are more closely linked to the feeling of joy than other facial expressions
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A smiling model positively influences all five stages of consumers’ attitude and intention formation
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A smile also positively influences interpersonal judgements.
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Smiles can be perceived in multiple ways, like more competent and honest, friendlier and warmer, happier, more sociable, more attractive, trustworthy and communal, less dominant, calm and more optimistic.
Source : The Psychology Behind Traffic Signage
https://curcioenterprises.com/2019/05/06/give-me-a-sign-the-psychology-behind-traffic-signage/
RESEARCH ARTICLE TWO
Road signs are integral to keeping drivers alive. A traffic sign could mean the difference between a driver making that life-saving stop or possibly running into oncoming cars. These signs are created with the human psyche in mind. Some key components are :
Color
Studies have shown that colors can instill emotional responses in our brain, even if we don’t think about it. Our brains are wired to perceive the color red as an alert to a possibly hazardous situation.
Shape
Signs with sharper points, such as a triangular-shaped sign or the octagon stop sign are usually associated with danger, whereas rectangular signs tend to convey standard information, like speed limits and directions.
Shorthand Text
It’s important for signs to say what needs to be said in a short amount of time. Drivers should be able to drive by a sign having full comprehension of its message, whether they’re being told to slow down, look out for pedestrians, stop, or yield.
Images
Signs showing images of stick figures or animals (such as a deer crossing sign) can stay imprinted in drivers’ minds more than mere text.
MODALITIES EXPLORED
Once we decided the types of modalities we would be pursuing we started implementing the modalities in accordance to the various scenarios.
The modalities we explored were VISUAL, AUDIO and PHYSICAL ( MOVEMENT ).
COLOURS
Colour as a modality plays a very important role.
Pedestrians will remember something positive that catches their eye.
Using bright colours to create a positive memory for people whenever they see the AV.
SCENARIO A : PEDESTRIANS ON THE ROAD SIDE WITH NO INTENT TO CROSS
VISUAL
Smile light changes from white to blue to indicate that the AV has detected the people.
AUDIO
To indicate state change.
DISPLAY
"Hi! Have a good day" a greeting message to personalise an interaction.
SCENARIO B : PEDESTRIANS ON THE ROAD SIDE WITH AN INTENT TO CROSS
BEFORE CROSSING
VISUAL
Smile light changes from white to green to indicate that the people can safely cross.
AUDIO
To indicate state change.
MOVEMENT
AV slows down to indicate allowing passage.
DISPLAY
Animation on screen indicating right to passage.
AFTER CROSSING
VISUAL
Smile light changes back to white.
AUDIO
To indicate state change.
MOVEMENT
AV slowly picks up speed.
When the crossing happens in group, the pedestrians tend to follow the person on the front, so the interactions with AV will be similar to this.
SCENARIO C : PEDESTRIANS ON THE ROAD SUDDENLY DECIDES TO CROSS & JUMPS IN FRONT OF AV
BEFORE CROSSING
VISUAL
Smile light changes from white to red, indicating AV detects people. Indicates warning.
AUDIO
Loud beeps to signify warning.
MOVEMENT
AV aggressively slows down to indicate allowing passage with a warning.
DISPLAY
Animation on screen indicating right to passage.
AFTER CROSSING
VISUAL
Smile light changes back to white.
AUDIO
Loud beeps to signify warning.
MOVEMENT
AV slowly picks up speed.
SCENARIO D : A CYCLIST TRYING TO CROSS A ROAD WHEN A NON AV IS COMING ALONG WITH AV
BEFORE CROSSING
VISUAL
Smile light changes from white to green to indicate that safe crossing for the cyclist.
AUDIO
To indicate state change.
MOVEMENT
AV slows down to indicate allowing passage.
DISPLAY
Projection on the street to inform the non AV vehicle.
AFTER CROSSING
VISUAL
Smile light changes back to white.
AUDIO
To indicate state change.
MOVEMENT
AV slowly picks up speed.
SCENARIO E : BLIND SPOT WARNING GIVEN TO PEDESTRIANS BY PARKED AV
VISUAL
Smile light changes from white to yellow, indicating the incoming non AV to slow down
AUDIO
Loud beeps to signify warning.
DISPLAY
Animation on screen indicating a car is coming, projection on street to inform the pedestrian
SCENARIO F : INFORMATION FOR A NON AV THAT IS FOLLOWING THE AV ON THE ROAD
AUDIO
Only when necessary
DISPLAY
Animation on back panels indicating the situation in the front of the road
KEY LEARNINGS
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This project gave us an opportunity to stretch our imaginations into a new, boundary-pushing design and prototype for the future.
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It helped us consider our preferences over a set of possible futures and the ways in which the objects we design help or hinder our attempts to build those futures.
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It made us look at how existing design and experiences can be used for making the user experiences easier.
FUTURE SCOPE
Impromptu gestures
A pedestrian can respond to an AV as they would to a human driver. It can be a simple “Thank You” for allowing someone to cross first. Still exploring ways for AV to respond to such cases.
Modalities:
Visual, Auditory, Physical
The group members of this project are :
DEEKSHA
Interaction Design'20.
KARTIKEYA GUPTA
Interaction Design'20.
PARTHA PARTIM DEY
Interaction Design'20.
