Autonomous Vehicles and Persons with Disabilities: Current Work and Future Directions

Abstract

ABSTRACT:

The emergence of fully autonomous or “self-driving” vehicles may prove to be a significant advance in personal mobility for those unwilling or unable to operate a conventional motor vehicle. For blind and significantly low vision individuals, for whom assistive driving technologies do not exist, the self-driving vehicle may prove to be life-changing; creating new possibilities for employment, education and social engagement. Self-driving vehicles may be similarly impactful for older adults who may be unwilling to drive due to age-related disability or cognitive decline. Despite the well documented potential benefits of vehicle automation technologies for older adults and persons with disabilities there is concern that this emerging technology is being designed in a manner that will render it largely inaccessible. Initiatives like the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Accessible Transportation Technologies Research Initiative (ATTRI) and the related DOT Inclusive Design Challenge highlight the reality that the needs and preferences of older adults and persons with disabilities have been insufficiently explored in this domain. In this talk, I summarize my research that has explored the perspectives of older adults and persons with visual disabilities on emerging self-driving vehicle technologies through quantitative and qualitative research. I then describe our use of participatory design and user enactment to inform the design of an accessible self-driving vehicle human-machine interface prototype. The resulting Accessible Technology Leveraged for Autonomous vehicles System (ATLAS) combines natural language processing, affective computing principles and spatial audio with the goal of satisfying the experiential needs of visually impaired users specifically. I conclude the talk with a discussion of the results of a quasi-naturalistic evaluation of the ATLAS system, conducted on public roads, and the trajectory of my future research on self-driving vehicle accessibility.

BIO:

Dr. Julian Brinkley is an Assistant Professor of Human-Centered Computing at Clemson University and the director of the Design and Research of In-Vehicle Experiences Lab (DRIVE Lab). His research is focused on the intersection between user experience, highly and fully automated vehicles, and accessibility; work that is currently supported by grants from the National Science Foundation and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Beyond automotive research, he also explores how technology broadly may be leveraged for social good, public safety, and entertainment. Dr. Brinkley completed a Ph.D. in Human- Centered Computing at the University of Florida, holds an M.S. from East Carolina University in Software Engineering and a B.A. from the University of North Carolina – Greensboro.

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