Maintaining a Sense of Control in Autonomous Vehicles via Auditory Feedback

This paper presents the findings from an observational field
study conducted with 8 car drivers. The study attempted to create
a taxonomy of sounds that present information to people whilst
driving. We also aimed to determine whether participants noticed
these sounds as they occurred and whether they paid attention to
them. Furthermore, we asked the participants subjective
questions regarding particular sonic attributes and their ability to
catch driver’s attention. It was concluded that although certain
sounds occur regularly, differing levels of attention are given to
each depending on the information they present. Our study also
revealed that while all sonic attributes play an impact in catching
driver’s attention, some aspects are more noticeable than others.
We conclude with a discussion of our future directions with
regards to the findings obtained from our observational field
study and outline the plan for our next study.