Paradigm Shift Consumers are very reluctant to trust this technology despite the excitement and desire to see it become mainstream . Trust can be improved if design efforts are more focused on the human element . These autonomous systems have to be geared toward catering to the human within the vehicle and acknowledging the new passenger role and occupant expectations . To-date there has not been much discussion about the new mental model for the human as an autonomous passenger . Currently , passengers are not required to maintain situational awareness or engage in active hazard avoidance monitoring to reach their destination safely . The goal of the autonomous model is for passengers to be able to sit back and relax , check emails or read a book while they are escorted to their desired destination . This works in today ’ s driving environment because passengers can still rely on a human in the loop , the driver , to make effective and safe driving decisions while they relax . However , this paradigm is not immediately transferable to an autonomous driving situation and is one reason why there have been negative outcomes associated with human errors while operating and interacting with the new prototypes .
As a society , we have to address many scenarios and questions not yet dealt with including : What happens in case of an emergency ? Will the passenger be able to take control of the vehicle should something go wrong ? Should they intervene ? What sort of situational awareness is required by the passengers ? Will the passenger of the vehicle be liable in the event of an accident ? To what extent will they be held liable if they were not operating the machine ?
To address these lingering issues , we will have to develop a new mental model of what it means to be a passenger , including required levels of situational awareness and monitoring of the environment and system state . Designers can help ease this transition through integration of human centered design and user testing methodologies . The objective being greater integration of behavioral design cues and communications between the design , the vehicle technology and the human passenger . Success with this technology will be achieved when we can effectively alert the passenger in a way that signals the desired human action or inaction within the autonomous driving scenario . In addition , the deployment of this technology will have to be more universally integrated as part of a larger automated transportation system instead of individually deployed in vehicles .
MOMENTUM / October 2016 29