Vehicle Interaction Lab

Rapid progress in vehicle technology affects not only safety, comfort and the driving experience, but above all human-vehicle interaction. We research and optimise the interaction between drivers, passengers and future vehicles in order to foster acceptance and a positive user experience through in-vehicle innovations. In various test environments and driving simulators, we focus on the following topics in the Vehicle Interaction Lab: 

• Data collection and analysis for the development of AI-based, context-sensitive and adaptive assistance systems, e.g. empathic voice assistants 
• Monitoring of behaviour and driver state during various stages of automated driving and non-driving activities (e.g. cognitive distraction, motion sickness, attention, emotions) 
• Creation and optimisation of multimodal human-machine interfaces, including the creation of (virtual) prototypes for graphical, acoustic and haptic control concepts (software and hardware)
• Development of safe and trustworthy interaction concepts between vulnerable road users, such as pedestrians or e-bike riders, and (automated) vehicles 

The Vehicle Interaction Lab offers various demonstration and test environments for studying human-vehicle interaction. It comprises a test vehicle, a 360-degree driving simulator and various mock-ups (e.g. using augmented, virtual and mixed reality). 

The Wizard-of-Oz vehicle allows the simulation of various levels of automated driving by a concealed driver. This enables continuous data collection during real-world driving. The research vehicle is equipped with three seats, each with a steering wheel and pedals for controlling the vehicle, and features the following equipment, amongst other things: 

• Eye-tracking system and physiological measurement technology (e.g. ECG, EDA, EEG) for multimodal data collection on the user’s state 
• Interior cameras, e.g. for behavioural observation 
• Sensors for recording speed and general driving behaviour 

The immersive driving simulator enables the investigation of concepts for assistance systems and human-machine interfaces (HMI) across all development phases. The driving simulator’s equipment includes, amongst other things: 

• 360-degree daylight projection for a full panoramic view whilst driving and acoustic simulation via a 5.1 sound system 
• Motion system for seat and chassis vibrations  
• SILAB as simulation software for a wide variety of driving scenarios 
• Digital dashboard for adaptive driver information systems and flexible display concepts  
• Measurement technology for multimodal data acquisition, including eye tracking and physiological data 

Depending on project requirements, we also create mock-ups, which enable an immersive test environment using augmented, virtual and mixed reality. This allows users to experience even early prototypes of new interaction concepts. In mock-ups, we depict future vehicle interiors that are optimised for various user activities during automated driving, e.g. working, meetings or relaxing.