Preprint 2021
S Oh, C Holloway and Y Cho
Department of Computer Science, University College London, London, UK
Fully autonomous vehicles are emerging, potentially benefitting the visually impaired community. However, people with visual impairment have been by and large excluded in designing infotainment systems and interactive features in traditional vehicles. This puts into question if interfaces designed for the future of vehicles would make it more accessible and user friendly for visually impaired drivers. It has remained unclear how inclusive current design strategies on autonomous vehicles are for meeting the users’ needs. Here, we aim to examine current trends and challenges in this by conducting a mixed-method study. We analyzed patents on accessible user interfaces and self-driving vehicles to understand a current trend. Then we performed interviews with experts in the industry to obtain an in-depth insight into the trend and challenges the industry face. The result highlights a growing interest in inclusion and the need for bringing universal design practices in assistive technology to the field.
This work builds on our previous projects [1-7].
References
[1] Cho, Y., Youn, J., Joung, M., and Kim, S., 2020. Vehicle display device and vehicle. U.S. Patent 10,534,440.
[2] Cho, Y., Bianchi-Berthouze, N., Marquardt, N. and Julier, S.J., 2018. Deep thermal imaging: Proximate material type recognition in the wild through deep learning of spatial surface temperature patterns. In Proceedings of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, pp. 1-13.
[3] Cho, Y., Joung, M. and Kim, S., 2018. Display apparatus for a vehicle. U.S. Patent 9,864,469.
[4] Cho, Y., Joung, M. and Kim, S., 2015. Device and method for generating vibrations. U.S. Patent Application 14/758,397.
[5] Cho, Y., Youn, J., Joung, M., and Kim, S., 2020. Vehicle display device and vehicle. U.S. Patent 10,534,440.
[6] Cho, Y., Kim, S. and Joung, M., 2017. Proximity sensor and control method thereof. U.S. Patent 9,703,368.
[7] Cho, Y., Joung, M. and Kim, S., 2018. Vehicle display apparatus including capacitive and light-based input sensors. U.S. Patent 9,891,756.