Some of us actually enjoy the thrill of a drive connecting man and machine as we barrel up a hill climb or throw our mighty chariot through the twisty bits on a country road. For others, this is a chore and for some, it can be a dangerous adventure. We’re talking about autonomous cars, in case you’re unclear.
For many years now, the motor industry has tried valiantly to convince us that what we really want is a car that drives itself, the autonomous car. A vehicle that is capable of getting us from A to B with minimal human interference.
A car that will make the decisions for us as we concentrate on… well whatever it is that you would like to do in your private space. Back in 2019 BMW gave us a taste of what this may be for a few of us.
That of course begs the question just what is it that you would rather concentrate on and if you are playing computer games or writing a report will you be able to switch back to driving mode fast enough if something critical happens?
Researchers at Glasgow University have been investigating whether augmented reality will be the key feature to allow us to safely help, particularly if we had been involved in a little Carmasutra.
The report believes that the one thing humans are not good at is sustained supervisory tasks, in short we become bored and distracted when we are not actively involved in the act of driving.
As a result, we lose awareness of the conditions around us and are thus slow to react to sudden changes that may result in an accident. Worse sometimes we fail to react as we “look but fail to see”.
The team thus argued that some form of augmented reality be utilised to grab the attention of the driver whilst engaged in alternative activities as a way to get them to switch back their focus to driving in an emergency situation.
The Glasgow Research Team set up a test rig in the lab using varying test scenarios, some whilst heads up and some whilst doing menial tasks some with and some without augmented reality, although none whilst practising Carmasutra.
The tape was then stopped immediately before an emergency situation, such as a child running in front of the car, to test situational awareness. The participant then had to chose one of four scenarios as to what would happen next.
Not surprisingly, the augmented reality scenarios showed better situational awareness than in those where the participant was ‘heads-down’. Not surprising as I said but how about comparing with seasoned drivers like myself driving without any autonomous features, I wonder who would be the winner there.
