Driverless cars could be fitted with external displays to help them communicate with vulnerable road users such as runners and cyclists.
Researchers at the University of Glasgow and KAIST in South Korea have used augmented reality tech to explore how runners’ behaviour differs from walkers’ when crossing roads and junctions. They found that runners are much more likely to take risks when negotiating traffic than walkers and often took less time to process the road conditions around them. On several occasions, they were ‘struck’ by virtual vehicles in the team’s simulated road tests.
The team suggested that displays of lights on the exteriors of cars called external human-machine interfaces, or eHMIs, could enable them to communicate their intentions more quickly and effectively.
These displays could provide non-verbal cues, such as the waves, eye movements and deceleration that human drivers currently use to show people around them how they intend to proceed. The researchers suggest an...