Variability analysis of in-car gesture interaction

In this paper we present an analysis of the variability of contactless gestures performed to control secondary functions in a car. In particular, those used to control the music player. We set up a Wizard-of-Oz experiment in a driving simulator where participants performed the gestures they think they would use to control the functions of the music player. The results of the experiment show a high level of variability in the gestures performed by different drivers for the same function. This could lead to driver distraction as well as user acceptance issues if a gesture vocabulary is `enforced' in order to use these systems. Thus, vehicle manufacturers should provide solutions to overcome these issues, such as gesture customization.