Evaluation of vibrotactile feedback for forward collision warning on the steering wheel and seatbelt

Abstract

This study evaluated the efficacy of haptic feedback for Forward Collision Warning (FCW). Haptic FCW using vibrotactile feedback was delivered to the participants through a steering wheel or a seatbelt when the participants could possibly divert their visual attention from the road. In addition, we provided a no warning scenario as the control condition. A virtual driving simulator implementing the visually distracted driving situation and forward collision scenarios was developed. A visually distracted driving situation was simulated by having participants perform a text-entry task while they were following a preceding car. Participants in two age groups (30-40 years old and 50-60 years old) were recruited to define an age effect. The reaction time (RT) to the haptic FCW and the collision prevention rate (CPR) were used as performance measures while the participants' perception on the usefulness of the haptic warnings and their overall satisfaction with the system were used as preference measures. The results show that participants had shorter RT and higher CPR with haptic warnings. The interaction between the haptic warning types and the age was significant to the CPR. The younger group showed lower CPR than the older group in the control condition, higher CPR with the haptic steering wheel, and similar CPR with the haptic seatbelt. Similar to the performance measures, the preference measure results demonstrate that the participants of both age groups felt the haptic FCWs were useful and satisfactory. We conclude that the haptic steering wheel and the haptic seatbelt could be effectively used as forward collision warnings. Relevance to industry: This study evaluates the effectiveness of haptic warning signals on a steering wheel and a seatbelt for FCW. The effect of the haptic warnings was evaluated by conducting an experiment using a driving simulator and the specifications of the warnings tested are laid out in this paper. The result of this study could be used for developing a haptic FCW by automobile manufacturers. © 2012 Elsevier B.V.