Will passengers trust driverless vehicles? Removing the steering wheel and pedals

Abstract

Driverless passenger vehicles are an emerging technology and a near-term eventuality. As such, the role of someone onboard the vehicle will change from the active role of a driver to the passive role of a passenger. The goal of this work is to provide an initial assessment of this interaction, with a specific focus on the impact of different available control interfaces on trust, usability, and performance. Participants interacted with two simulated driverless passenger vehicles that were designed to mirror a real-world prototype vehicle for Soldier transit on a U.S. military installation. Vehicle 1 had a traditional wheel and pedal control interface, as well as two buttons to disengage or re-engage the vehicle's automation system. Vehicle 2 only had the button system available with which to disengage the automation and bring the vehicle to a safe stop in the simulation and then re-engage. Both vehicles were designed to function optimally throughout the virtual environment. Findings suggested equal trust and usability ratings between the two vehicles. However, participants tended to intervene more often with the traditional control interface. Individual differences and preference ratings are reported.