Hypovigilance in limited self-driving automation: Peripheral visual stimulus for a balanced level of automation and cognitive workload

摘要

Higher levels of vehicle automation might lead to a reduction in driver situational awareness, as driver intervention to control the vehicle is only demanded in novel, previously unencountered situations that the automation might not be able to handle. In this paper we address this question by presenting a study on continuous, in-vehicle visual stimulus to reduce driver reaction time after a period of hypovigilance. We relied on peripheral vision, which is processed subconsciously, to implement an unobtrusive method based on luminescence. Data analysis showed a tendency among drivers to respond faster to a Take Over Request when their peripheral vision detected the stimulus.