CRII: CHS: Understanding and Supporting the Use of Self-Driving Vehicles by Persons with Visual Disabilities

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The emergence of fully autonomous or "self-driving" vehicles may prove to be the most significant evolution in personal mobility of the past century. It is envisioned that the most advanced of such vehicles will operate with minimal human interaction and no direct human driving. By minimizing the role of often error-prone human beings in the driving process, vehicle crashes may be reduced significantly, thus saving tens of thousands of lives annually and untold millions of dollars in property. While this technology is potentially ground breaking for society broadly, self-driving vehicles may prove especially beneficial for those who are blind or who cannot otherwise operate conventional motor vehicles due to their disability. Despite the tremendous promise of self-driving technology in this regard, advocates of the many blind and visually impaired persons in the United States argue that the needs of visually impaired persons are not being adequately considered in the design of the technology, resulting in what may become accessibility barriers to its use. The PI seeks to address this issue through research that will explore the potential accessibility barriers encountered by visually impaired persons in their practical use of a self-driving vehicle, and through fundamental research that will derive solutions to these problems. The goal of this project is to produce a model of interaction that will support the use of self-driving vehicle technology by visually impaired persons. Following a user-centered inclusive design process the research will specifically seek to understand: (a) how self-driving vehicle human-machine interfaces are presently implemented in experimental vehicles; (b) how visually impaired persons envision their interactions with self-driving vehicles; (c) what accessibility challenges are faced by visually impaired persons in related Transportation-as-a-Service technologies; and (d) what types of novel self-driving vehicle user interfaces, interaction modalities and tools can be developed to support optimal usability and accessibility for visually impaired persons. The project will culminate with evaluation of accessible self-driving vehicle interface prototypes developed in participatory design sessions. Project outcomes will further the understanding of auditory, kinesthetic, tangible and affective interfaces through the development of techniques and tools to support human-machine interaction that is primarily non-visual in nature. The project will also further science regarding underlying processes that support accessible and universal design.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.