Talking Automated Vehicles: Exploring Users’ Understanding of an Automated Vehicle During Initial Usage

Paper in proceeding, 2021

With the introduction of automation, vehicles have become increasingly complicated and difficult for users to understand. Users’ understanding of Automated Vehicles (AVs) is a key aspect for safe and successful implementation of AVs. However, more research is needed into how users understand AVs based on actual use experience. In this paper, users’ understanding of AVs is explored by investigating how they refer to and describe an AV, during and after initial usage. 18 participants experienced a seemingly fully automated vehicle, being driven with two distinctly different driving styles on a test course. The findings show that the participants had specific preconceptions of what they regarded as machine-like versus human-like driving characteristics of the AV. The participants also referred to the AV with gender pronouns and used human similes to describe the different driving styles. The different driving styles evoked different associations that influenced the participants’ perceptions of AV behaviour as a result of individual preconceptions and previous experiences. The results imply that the participants initially used a human-like mental model of the AV. However, further investigations are necessary into users’ initial comprehension of AVs, to better understand how they will experience and interact with future AVs.