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The electronic sound is used as one of the very common means of human-machine interface. Few investigations of how human feels to such the simple sounds noisy or comfortable, exist. The electronic sound must be designed by considering how or in what situation it is used. This research is aimed at investigating how human feels to a variety of electronic sound and describes the relation between human feeling and physical characteristics of sound. We investigated how physical parameters of sound effect to the human feeling via evaluation experiments. We found relations between the human auditory feeling and the physical characteristics of the sound. We showed a guideline of how to design a variety of electronic sound that satisfy the given human feeling specifications.

In this paper, we discuss the operational convenience and safe driving when operating a human-machine interface (HMI) while driving on a virtual expressway. We previously conducted an experiment to evaluate a center-cluster panel switch and two prototypes of new HMI with a head-up display (HUD) and steering wheel switch (SWS) in which the participant followed a lead vehicle on an expressway by using a driving simulator (DS). We also conducted another experiment to evaluate these new HMIs when a driver operating an HMI encountered a sudden danger while driving. However, in these previous experiments, the number of switch pushes was not the same for each HMI. In this study, we compared the participants' switch operation performance, eye movement, and reaction to sudden danger in the new experimental condition, where the number of switch pushes is the same for each HMI, with those of the previous work.

In this paper, authors discuss a driving simulator that was developed to study a driver's mental state in a traffic accident occurring between vehicles at an intersection. The functions of the driving simulator and a video annotation system for analyzing human behavior and human cognitive processes are discussed. Also described is how to estimate a driver's mental state by using physiological indices when the driver is distracted in addition to the experimental plan established.

Comfortable man-machine interfaces are required for current advanced vehicle systems. This paper aims at investigating the relation between reaction force of switches and human switch operation feeling. We investigate how each reaction force of switches effects the touch feeling of switches via sensory test. The results of factor analysis for the questionnaire data obtained in the sensory test show that the most substantial factor is the feeling expressed by the words “Clear”, “Smooth”, “Stiff”, and “Clicking”. Finally, each feeling described by each word is directly evaluated by reaction force or vice versa on dual scales. The dual scale for reaction forces and degree of feeling can be directly used for designing comfortable switch.

An experimental method was required to evaluate both the operability and the influence on safety of in-vehicle devices used while driving. We proposed to measure the number of errors, operation time, glance time, and variations in steering angle and yaw angle through objective tests, as well as eliciting subjective evaluations by participants. We conducted an experiment in which, using a driving simulator to evaluate a center-cluster panel switch and a new human-machine interface (HMI) with a head-up display (HUD) and steering wheel switch (SWS), the participant follows a lead vehicle on an expressway. Results indicate that the experimental method is effective for comprehensively evaluating in-vehicle devices and identifying where improvements are needed. The merits of the new HMI are also discussed.

In this paper, we use electrocardiogram (ECG) measurements to detect a driver's mental state and to investigate the relations between the driver's heart rate and his/her behavior while driving. We use a driving simulator to simulate traffic accidents between cars at an intersection. Experiments are conducted to collect physiological data while a subject drives an experimental course and when he/she is distracted by extraneous thoughts. We found that there were many cases in which the heart rate decreased or increased during an accident or an incident at an intersection Moreover, we found that many drivers who caused a car accident did not see a stop sign when he/she entered an intersection and caused the accident. We assume that there may be some relation between heart rate and the occurrence of a human error that results in driver causing a car accident at an intersection.

The authors performed an experiment on a collision avoidance system (CAS) by using a driving simulator. A driver is exposed to a variety of events designed with the support system. In each event, based on whether the brakes were operated, we proposed two indices, namely the alarm ignorance ratio and the fail-safe ratio, to indicate the degree of the driver's dependence on the support system. In addition, from the simplified NASA-TLX and the post-experiment interview, the driver's mental workload was measured. Based on the degree of dependence, the authors plan to design a support system that collaborates with the driver.

We conducted an experiment to evaluate the operational convenience and the influence on safe driving of a new human-machine interface (HMI) by using a driving simulator (DS). In this system a driver operates the new HMI and center-cluster panel switches while driving on an expressway and when encountering a sudden danger. Based on the results, we discuss the operational convenience and driving safety when operating an HMI while driving on a virtual expressway.

We conducted experiments to collect data on vehicle speed to investigate the movement of a car without the right of way passing through an intersection. Movement was measured at each moment by the distance between the stop line and the car. This was accomplished by using video cameras and a laser displacement meter. We analyzed drivers' common driving behavior when passing through an intersection without the right of way.