Abstract
Keywords - Automotive HMI, visual warnings, LED, visual attention, ADAS, HMI development
Most of today´s Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) issue warnings to guide the driver in critical situations. Thus, the optimal design of warnings is one of the crucial aspects for the effectiveness and acceptance of ADAS. According to research findings on uni-modal and spatial warning signals a new visual warning concept has been developed and implemented in a driving simulator. A total of 6 LED based visual warning indicators were placed at specific positions in the vehicle interior in order to guide the driver´s visual attention to the direction of a particular hazard. The warning system has been experimentally compared against conventional visual warnings on the instrument cluster in a driving simulator study. Results indicate a clear advantage of distributed warnings: The frequency of collisions could be reduced; driver reacted quicker to the warning stimulus and subjectively rated the distributed warnings to be more useful than the visual warning on the instrument cluster. The results confirm the hypothesis that spatially distributed visual warnings can improve the effectiveness and acceptance of ADAS warnings.