Non-Visual Interfaces to Enable the Accessibility of Highly Automated Vehicles for People with Vision Impairments

高度自动化车辆(HAVS)有可能极大地改变未来个人的交通方式。特别是，视力障碍(PVI)的人可以极大地受益于HAVS，因为他们将获得行动的自主性和独立性，从而显著改善他们的生活。然而，学术界和工业界在使PVI能够使用HAVs进行独立运输方面所做的努力有限。最初的学术研究着眼于这一领域，方法是与VIS举办定性研讨会，以了解他们在HAVS内部的需求。这些工作坊发现，自愿车非常需要了解甲型HAV周围的交通情况。这种知识通常被称为情境感知，它最初是由Endsley以情境感知模型的形式定义的。因此，该项目的主要目标是通过开发建立在听觉、触觉和多模式系统评估的基础上的接口，同时考虑个人的视觉敏锐度来增强PVI的HAVS的情况感知。这些接口应该进一步支持在驾驶任务级别上与HAVs交互的PVI。该项目还将探索这种接口是否可以积极影响自愿投资机构的信任建立和对HAVs的接受。基于对界面评估的见解，我们进一步寻求开发基于能力的设计指南，该指南将为设计人员和开发人员提供一个框架，以创建适合PVI的需求和个人能力的界面。该项目有助于满足自愿性交通工具利用机动车进行个人交通的需求。我们将通过(1)增强PVI的情境感知并提高其理解情境和与HAVS交互的能力的接口，(2)基于能力的设计指南，以及(3)支持设计人员、开发人员和研究人员为PVIsin HAVS创建接口的工具来实现这一点。通过进行这些努力，我们使增值税能够有效、高效和独立地利用HAV来满足其个人交通需求。

Highly Automated Vehicles (HAVs) have the potential to change transportation for individuals in the future significantly. Particularly, people with vision impairments (PVIs) can greatly benefit from HAVs, as they will gain autonomy and independence in their mobility, leading to a significant improvement in their lives. However, there are only limited efforts in academia and industry to enable PVIs to use HAVs for their independent transportation yet. Initial academic research looked into this area by conducting qualitative workshops with PVIs to understand their needs inside HAVs. These workshops found a high need for the PVIs to gain knowledge of the HAV’s surrounding traffic situation. This knowledge is commonly referred to as situation awareness, which was initially defined by Endsley in the form of a situation awareness model. Thus, this project’s main goal is enhancing situation awareness in HAVs for PVIs by developing interfaces that build on a systematic evaluation of auditory, haptic, and multi-modalities while considering individual visual acuity. These interfaces should further support PVIs in the interaction with HAVs at the driving task level. The project will also explore if such interfaces can positively affect PVIs’ trust-building and acceptance of HAVs. Based on the insights of the interfaces’ evaluations, we further seek to develop ability-based design guidelines that will provide a framework for designers and developers to create interfaces tailored to the requirements and individual abilities of PVIs. The project contributes to addressing the needs of PVIs in utilizing HAVs for personal transportation. We will achieve this through (1) interfaces that enhance situation awareness for PVIs and improve their ability to comprehend situations and interact with HAVs, (2) ability-based design guidelines, and (3) tools supporting designers, developers, and researchers in creating interfaces for PVIsin HAVs. By undertaking these efforts, we enable PVIs to effectively, efficiently, and independently utilize HAVs for their personal transportation needs.