It's Enactment Time!: High-fidelity Enactment Stage for Accessible Automated Driving System Technology Research

Abstract

Automated driving system (ADS) technology has been incorporated into critical driving functions (e.g., adaptive cruise control and autonomous braking) for over two decades. Now companies like GM and Google are developing and testing fully autonomous vehicles (AVs). However, the current design of AVs is for individuals who can drive rather than those who cannot, those who would benefit most from these vehicles. As the technology is still primarily experimental, conducting research with AVs and older adults or people with disabilities is infeasible. Therefore, to explore the accessibility of AVs, we conduct user enactment studies, as this method works well with technologies that participants have little to no experience utilizing. This pictorial describes the iterative process of developing a high-fidelity enactment environment, the space and objects with which participants interact. The aim is to encourage the HCI community to utilize high-fidelity enactment environments for conducting accessible future technology research.