Windshield displays are a promising technology for automotive application. In combination with the emergence of highly automated vehicles, chances are that work-related activities will become more popular on the daily commute to and from work. While windshield displays can show content relevant for non-driving related activities, little information is available on how potential users would utilize these displays in terms of text and background color as well as transparency usage. In this paper, we present the results of two user studies (pilot study: N = 10, main study: N = 20) addressing this issue. Findings from quantitative measurements and qualitative pre-/post study surveys and interviews suggest a strong preference for the chat window being located on the driver side presented in dark mode with adaptive background transparency levels based on the luminance of the outside environment.

Die breite Einführung autonomer Fahrzeuge, ob für den Individualverkehr oder auch den öffentlichen Nahverkehr, ist nur noch eine Frage der Zeit. Dies bedeutet unweigerlich, dass in absehbarer Zeit alle Verkehrsteilnehmer*innen mit dieser Art von Fahrzeugen in Berührung kommen werden. In diesem Artikel soll diskutiert werden, wie Ansätze des Positive Computing helfen können, die Ausgestaltung der automatisierten Fahrzeuge so vorzunehmen, dass sie zum Wohlbefinden der Menschen in Verkehrssituationen beitragen.

The design of self-driving cars is one of the most exciting and ambitious challenges of our days and every day, new research work is published. In order to give an orientation, this article will present an overview of various methods used to study the human side of autonomous driving. Simplifying roughly, you can distinguish between design science-oriented methods (such as Research through Design, Wizard of Oz or driving simulator ) and behavioral science methods (such as survey, interview, and observation). We show how these methods are adopted in the context of autonomous driving research and dis-cuss their strengths and weaknesses. Due to the complexity of the topic, we will show that mixed method approaches will be suitable to explore the impact of autonomous driving on different levels: the individual, the social interaction and society.

Augmented reality head-up displays (AR HUD) can be seen as a promising advancement of conventional head-up displays in vehicles. Information can be displayed in a contact analogue way in the real world by projecting it onto the vehicle’s windshield. Two major challenges for concept developers are to reduce masking caused by augmented reality (AR) content and to create concepts that work with the limited field of view (FOV). To examine these two challenges, we designed two contact analogue navigation concepts. We compared them to each other in a field study with a prototype car that contained a complete AR HUD testing environment. The participants were experts in interaction design, AR, HUDs, design, and sales. The experiment showed that the application of Gestalt Principles for AR HUD concept design to reduce masking can be a promising approach. In addition, suggestions for further improvement of contact analogue navigation concepts were collected.