INTERACTION: Major new project won by TRL

If poorly designed or used inappropriately, in-vehicle technologies (IVT) have the potential to compromise safety, but little is known about how drivers use IVT. TRL has recently been awarded the INTERACTION project, working with research organisations across Europe to gain a better understanding of drivers’ interactions with IVT. The consortium gathers 10 European partners (ERT-INRETS, as coordinators, CDV, CTAG, FACTUM, ISEC, INTEMPORA, SWOV, TRL, and VTT) from 8 countries and also two Australian institutes (MUARC and GI).

There are several key safety issues linked with in-vehicle technology use:

Risk of distraction
Over-reliance on technology
Understandability of systems
Awareness of system limitations
Controllability of the systems
Negative behavioural adaptation
Workload

The project will focus on technologies already available in the European market and identify patterns of use of these systems. It will also analyse their effects on a driver’s behaviour and skills in normal and emergency situations and highlight individual and cultural differences that influence the nature of driver interactions with IVT and their consequences. The research will focus on real world driving in instrumented vehicles as well as driving under experimental conditions.

It is anticipated that at the end of the project, recommendations will be made as to the design and refinement of IVT technologies in terms of ergonomics, usability and safety; the design of appropriate instructions and training for drivers who will use them; and for the customisation of systems to make them compatible with driver and driving characteristics in the country in which the systems are deployed.

The project, which is jointly funded by the EU and Department for Transport, will run for 42-months.