The car of the future will be very different from that which we know today - no longer just a mechanical transportation device, but a mobile communications and entertainment platform providing many new functions and services to the occupants.
The use of cellular telephones whilst driving is already a source of major concern and further legislation regarding phone usage will undoubtedly be forthcoming. The future will also add display based navigation, internet access, e-commerce and other location dependent services which will increase the drivers cognitive load. We will also see driver assistance systems such as adaptive cruise control, collision avoidance warnings and vision enhancement systems which will change the driving task and could potentially reduce cognitive load almost to the level of autopilot monitoring.
As the nature of the in-vehicle activity therefore evolves from being a perceptual-motor driving task to that of a communications and vigilance task (set against a background of infotainment services) then we can not only anticipate emergent behaviors but will also see a new need for the management of multimodal information presentation to the driver according to his driving circumstances and indeed, personal preferences. Consequently driving could be as different from what we know today, as today is from the time of leather helmets and driving goggles.
The aim of this presentation is to provide an overview of the major human factors and safety issues which these new systems are raising and which will be fundamental to their effective and safe use as well as to their commercial viability and success.