Safety, Mobility and the Environment: the Electronic Cocoon

An electronic cocoon is a vehicle in which the requirements of safety, mobility and the environment are managed electronically using information from on-board and off-board data networks. The center of these data networks is the driver's own complex and adaptive network which has interfaces of its own with sensory, cognitive and motor capabilities and are variable across the population.

In this paper, we describe the delicate balance between the unbounded desires for the ideal and the viable expectations of reality. Our vision will be described in the light of significant and exciting technological advances, sobered by the realities of our increasingly complex driving environment --- an environment that actively and constantly challenges the driver's finite attentive resources.