Thierry Bellet

Perceptions of Risk and Control: Understanding Acceptance of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems

With a marked increase in advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) being designed and deployed for cars, there is a logical emergence of studies that critically examine the influence these have on driver behavior and attitudes towards risk and safety. The research question addressed within this paper asks to what extent the level of perceived criticality or risk on the part of drivers influences their acceptance of advanced assistance.

A computational model of the car driver interfaced with a simulation platform for future Virtual Human Centred Design applications: COSMO-SIVIC

This paper presents the first step of a research programme implemented by IFSTTAR in order to develop an integrative simulation platform able to support a Human Centred Design (HCD) method for virtual design of driving assistances. This virtual platform, named COSMO-SiVIC, implements a COgnitive Simulation MOdel of the DRIVEr (i.e. COSMODRIVE) into a Vehicle-Environment-Sensors platform (named SiVIC, for Simulateur Vehicule-Infrastructure-Capteur). From this simulation tool based on a computational driver model, the design costs of driving assistances is expected to reduce in the future, and the end-users needs during the design process are also better taken into account. This article is mainly focussed on the description of the driver model developed and implemented on the SiVIC virtual platform, which is only the first step towards a future Virtual HCD integrated tool. The first section will discuss the research context and objective, and the second one will present the theoretical background in cognitive sciences supporting our driver modelling approach. Then, the SiVIC tool is used in this research as a methodological and technical support for both empirical data collection among human drivers and as a virtual road environment to be interfaced with the COSMODRIVE model. In the result section, the functional architecture of COSMO-SIVIC (based on three complementary modules of Perception, Decision and Action) will be described, and an example of virtual simulation of human drivers errors due to visual distraction while driving will be presented. The perspectives concerning future use of COSMO-SIVIC for virtual HCD will be then discussed in the conclusion section.

Assistance aux conducteurs âgés: Analyse de l’activité pour la conception de futures fonctions de monitorage de la conduite automobile

L’autonomie et la mobilite individuelle des personnes âgees representent un enjeu societal important pour de nombreux pays. Or conduire est une activite complexe qui peut representer un risque potentiel pour les conducteurs âges, dont les capacites perceptives, cognitives ou motrices ont decline. Pour maintenir la mobilite des aines tout en favorisant une securite routiere pour tous, les systemes d’assistance constituent une reponse potentielle au soutien de la conduite des conducteurs âges. Pour concevoir de tels systemes, il est necessaire d’observer et d’analyser l’activite de conduite des âges en situation naturelle (au volant d’un vehicule instrumente evoluant dans la circulation, sur route ouverte). Cette investigation vise a identifier des difficultes rencontrees sur la route par ces conducteurs, afin de specifier ergonomiquement puis de concevoir des systemes d’assistance adaptes aux besoins reels de cette population, en s’appuyant notamment sur des fonctions de « monitorage » permettant d’apporter une aide adaptee au contexte de conduite. Cet article introduit cette methode de « Conception Centree sur l’Humain » mise en place dans le cadre de cette recherche, et illustre notre demarche (aux moyens d’exemples concrets) d’analyse fine de l’activite de conduite des conducteurs âges, a des futures fins de conception ergonomique de systemes d’aide a la conduite adaptes aux besoins specifiques des seniors (E-ADAS : Elderly-Adapted Driving Assistance Systems ).

Modelling visual distraction effects on driver’s perception and cognition

This article presents a computational modelling approach for negative effects simulation of visual distraction while driving. In order to investigate these effects, an experiment was implemented on a driving simulator. Empirical data collected shows that visual distraction impacts the driving performance at perceptive and behavioural levels. The aim of this study was also to investigate and to simulate the distractive effects on drivers mental models. Indeed, driving decisions and behaviours are based on a temporal-spatial mental model, corresponding to the drivers situational awareness (SA). In case of visual distraction requiring off-road glance, mental model updating may be imperfectly done and drivers actions are thus based can differ on the situational reality. From these, a perception module, interfaced with cognitive functions of a computational model named COgnitive Simulation MOdel of the DRIVEr, was developed and implemented for simulating visual distraction effects and human errors risks at perceptive, cognitive and behavioural levels.