Investigating User Preferences for Windshield Displays in Automated Vehicles

Windshield displays are a promising technology for automotive applications. They easily allow to augment the capabilities of drivers or display content relevant for non-driving related activities. However, little information is available on how potential users would utilize these displays. In this paper we present the results of a user study (N=31) addressing user preferences for windshield displays in automated driving. Our goal was to find out how potential users would like applications to appear in terms of size, position, and content type. Participants could freely choose preferred position and size of multiple windows on an artificial "ideal" windshield display. We further distinguished between two levels of automation (conditional and full). Initial results of our experiment (presented in form of heatmaps) indicate differences considering the level of vehicle automation and reveal the most important areas for various content types. This can help designers and developers of automotive applications to enhance user experience.