Understanding Driving Stress in Urban Bangladesh: An Exploratory Study, Wearable Development and Experiment

Abstract

Driving stress significantly impacts driving behavior primarily from roadside factors, where driving is more challenging in developing countries (i.e., Bangladesh) for unique cultural and infrastructural setups. We conduct an exploratory study (Qualitative n=26, and Subjective Feedback n= 80) and a correlational analysis involving professional and private car drivers in urban Bangladesh. The study reveals drivers' demography and driving stress factors on the road. These findings motivate us to identify driving stress from physiological factors by developing a low-cost wearable, Stress Wear. This can detect stress from varying Heart Rates, validated by expensive commercial wearables. Between subject experiments on drivers (total n=14 in two phases) with wearables, we also found that road factors are responsible for driving stress. Therefore, the developed system is helpful for these drivers to self-sensing their stress.