Exploring expert perceptions about the cyber security and privacy of Connected and Autonomous Vehicles: A thematic analysis approach

Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CAVs) constitute an automotive development carrying paradigm-shifting potential that may soon be embedded into a dynamically changing urban mobility landscape. The complex machine-led dynamics of CAVs make them more prone to data exploitation and vulnerable to cyber attacks than any of their predecessors increasing the risks of privacy breaches and cyber security violations for their users. This can adversely affect the public acceptability of CAVs, give them a bad reputation at this embryonic stage of their development, create barriers to their adoption and increased use, and complicate the business models of their future operations. Therefore, it is vital to identify and create an in-depth understanding of the cyber security and privacy issues associated with CAVs, and of the way these can be prioritised and addressed. This work employs 36 semi-structured elite interviews to explore the diverse dimensions of user acceptance through the lens of the well-informed CAV experts that already anticipate problems and look for their solutions. Our international interviewee sample represents academia, industry and policy-making so that all the key stakeholder voices are heard. Thematic analysis was used to identify and contextualise the factors that reflect and affect CAV acceptance in relation to the privacy and cyber security agendas. Six core themes emerged: awareness, user and vendor education, safety, responsibility, legislation, and trust. Each of these themes has diverse and distinctive dimensions and are discussed as sub-themes. We recommend that mitigating the cyber security and privacy risks embedded in CAVs require inter-institutional cooperation, awareness campaigns and trials for trust-building purposes, mandatory educational training for manufacturers and perhaps more importantly for end-users, balanced and fair responsibility-sharing, two-way dynamic communication channels and a clear consensus on what constitutes threats and solutions.     

Les effets de la motivation sur la performance sportive au regard de la théorie de l’autodétermination : vers une approche intra-individuelle

The main purpose of the present article is to review studies in the self-determination framework (Deci & Ryan, 1985, 2008) examining the effects of athletes’ motivation on sport performance. This work consists of three different sections. First, we detail the main postulates of self-determination theory. Second, we present results of recent studies examining the influence of motivation on performance by shedding light on research with a person-centered approach at different levels of generality (Vallerand, 1997). Finally, future research directions and practical implications are proposed to enhance athletes’ sport performance. We suggest that athletes’ autonomous motivation should be increased to attain success in sport.     

Pedestrian interaction with automated vehicles at uncontrolled intersections

Automated Vehicles (AVs) are being developed rapidly and tested on public roads, but pedestrians’ interaction with AV is not comprehensively understood or thoroughly investigated to ensure safe operations and the public’s trust of AVs. In this study, we aimed to provide another research evidence to enhance such understanding with the use of external interfaces for facilitating the interaction between pedestrians and AVs. We developed five external interfaces, including text, symbol, animated-eye, a combination of text and symbol, and speed. These interfaces communicated five types of information, including (1) intent of AV; 2) advice to pedestrians of what to do, (3) AV’s awareness of pedestrians, (4) combination of intent and advice, and (5) vehicle movement (i.e., speed). We tested the interfaces through two field studies at uncontrolled intersections with crosswalks. The Wizard of Oz method was used, in which an experimenter worked as a driver in an instrumented vehicle and wore an outfit to be invisible to the pedestrians, thus rendering the set-up to simulate an AV interacting with a pedestrian. The interfaces were displayed on an LED panel mounted on the AV. Results showed that the AV’s external interface did not change pedestrians’ response time in comparison with the baseline without any interface. There was no statistically significant difference in response time among the external interfaces either. According to the post-experimental interview, vehicle movement pattern (e.g., vehicle speed) continued to be a significant cue for pedestrians to decide when to cross the intersections. Participants perceived the communication of the AV’s intent and vehicle speed as more beneficial than the communication of AV’s awareness. The subjective ratings showed positive effects of those interfaces that were easy to understand (e.g., text interface and speed interface), which also helped pedestrians feel safer when interacting with the AV.     

Consequences of autonomous vehicles: Ambivalent expectations and their impact on acceptance

Connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs) are within reach of widespread deployment on public roads, but public perceptions are ambivalent. The objective of the present research was to assess expectations about the consequences of CAV introduction. These expectations should explain CAV acceptance, but their relative importance is poorly understood. We conducted a survey with a representatively drawn panel sample (N = 529) from France, Germany, Italy, and the UK. The survey consisted of a large item pool of expected consequences from CAV introduction, as well as general and affective evaluation of CAVs, ease of use, and behavioral intention to use CAVs. Exploratory factor analysis revealed four facets of expected consequences: road safety, privacy, efficiency and ecological sustainability. On average, expectations were mostly positive for ecological sustainability and safety, but negative for privacy. At the same time, substantial variance existed between respondents and between countries. For safety and efficiency, improvement was expected by a third of respondents, while another third expected worsening. Respondents from Italy expected more positive consequences for safety, while respondents from both France and Germany expected more negative consequences for privacy. To different degrees, all four facets predicted the intention to use CAVs in a structural equation model, primarily via affective evaluations. For policy makers, manufacturers, and service providers, understanding the trade-offs inherent to different CAV solutions will be central to ensure citizens’ needs are respected.     

Impact of interface design on drivers’ behavior in partially automated cars: An on-road study

In partially automated vehicles, the driver and the automated system share control of the vehicle. Consequently, the driver may have to switch between driving and monitoring activities. This can critically impact the driver’s situational awareness. The human–machine interface (HMI) is responsible for efficient collaboration between driver and system. It must keep the driver informed about the status and capabilities of the automated system, so that he or she knows who or what is in charge of the driving. The present study was designed to compare the ability of two HMIs with different information displays to inform the driver about the system’s status and capabilities: a driving-centered HMI that displayed information in a multimodal way, with an exocentric representation of the road scene, and a vehicle-centered HMI that displayed information in a more traditional visual way. The impact of these HMIs on drivers was compared in an on-road study. Drivers’ eye movements and response times for questions asked while driving were measured. Their verbalizations during the test were also transcribed and coded. Results revealed shorter response times for questions on speed with the exocentric and multimodal HMI. The duration and number of fixations on the speedometer were also greater with the driving-centered HMI. The exocentric and multimodal HMI helped drivers understand the functioning of the system, but was more visually distracting than the traditional HMI. Both HMIs caused mode confusions. The use of a multimodal HMI can be beneficial and should be prioritized by designers. The use of auditory feedback to provide information about the level of automation needs to be explored in longitudinal studies.     

Interaction between pedestrians and automated vehicles: Exploring a motion-based approach for virtual reality experiments

External human machine interfaces (eHMI) might contribute to an enhanced traffic flow and road safety by providing relevant information to surrounding road users. To quantify the effect of eHMI on traffic flow, the majority of studies required participants to indicate their crossing decision in an explicit manner, such as pressing a button. While this approach proved to be efficient, the transfer to real-world behavior is unclear. Here, we propose a more realistic, motion-based approach allowing pedestrians to actually cross the road in front of a vehicle in a virtual reality environment. Participants (N = 51) encountered simulated automated vehicles (AVs) in two scenarios. We investigated the effect of different eHMIs on traffic flow and road safety. Pedestrians’́ body movements were obtained using a motion capturing system with six sensors. Our approach was validated using a two-step procedure. First, we assessed crossing behavior and subjective safety feeling while approaching AVs with and without eHMI. Second, we tested to which extent objective crossing behavior matched self-reported safety feeling. For this purpose, we evaluated if subjective safety feeling can be reliably predicted from actual crossing behavior using a functional data analysis. The proposed motion-based approach proved a valid investigation method for eHMI designs. The results indicated that eHMIs have a beneficial effect on traffic flow and road safety. Regarding traffic flow, participants crossed the road earlier and felt significantly safer when encountering an AV with an eHMI compared to no eHMI. In addition, in situations in which only some of the AVs were equipped with an eHMI, participants’ crossing behavior and safety feeling became more conservative for encounters without eHMI, indicating higher road safety. Further, subjective safety feeling was significantly predicted from actual crossing behavior. These findings highlight that eHMIs are beneficial for pedestrians’ crossing decision, both from an objective and subjective perspective.     

Factors that influence the acceptance of future shared automated vehicles – A focus group study with United Kingdom drivers

The development of Shared Automated Vehicles (SAVs) is well underway to provide mobility as a service (MaaS) and bring benefits such as reduced traffic congestion, reduced reliance on privately owned vehicles and increased independence to non-drivers. To realise the benefits of SAVs, adoption by private vehicle users is crucial. Previous research has shown this subset of users as the least likely to adopt SAVs, and it is not well understood what factors are important to achieve such adoption. The purpose of this study is to obtain an in-depth understanding of attitudes, perceptions and preferences that influence the acceptance of future SAVs for drivers. This paper presents the results from an online asynchronous focus group study with 21 British drivers as participants. From the analysis, Service Quality, Trust and Price Value emerged as the three most prominent factors to understand user acceptance of SAVs. These three main factors may be of prime importance for convincing naïve private car owners to accept high-speed SAVs. Productive use of travel time has been frequently mentioned in previous research as a benefit of vehicle automation but was scarcely mentioned by participants in this study. Shared Space Quality in introduced as an indicator for Service Quality, together with Security and Trusting Co-passengers as two indicators of Trust. Based on the findings, this paper concludes with a conceptual SAV technology acceptance model is introduced, with the results added as extended model predictors to the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT2).     

Should older people be considered a homogeneous group when interacting with level 3 automated vehicles?

Exploring the future mobility of older people is imperative for maintaining wellbeing and quality of life in an ageing society. The forthcoming level 3 automated vehicle may potentially benefit older people. In a level 3 automated vehicle, the driver can be completely disengaged from driving while, under some circumstances, being expected to take over the control occasionally. Existing research into older people and level 3 automated vehicles considers older people to be a homogeneous group, but it is not clear if different sub-groups of old people have different performance and perceptions when interacting with automated vehicles. To fill this research gap, a driving simulator investigation was conducted. We adopted a between-subjects experimental design with subgroup of old age as the independent variable. The differences in performance, behaviour, and perception towards level 3 automated vehicles between the younger old group (60–69 years old) and older old group (70 years old and over) was investigated. 15 subjects from the younger old group (mean age = 64.87 years, SD = 3.46 years) and 24 from the older old group (mean age = 75.13 years, SD = 3.35 years) participated in the study. The findings indicate that older people should not be regarded as a homogeneous group when interacting with automated vehicle. Compared to the younger old people, the older old people took over the control of the vehicle more slowly, and their takeover was less stable and more critical. However, both groups exhibited positive perceptions towards level 3 automation, and the of older old people’s perceptions were significantly more positive. This study demonstrated the importance of recognising older people as a heterogeneous group in terms of their performance, capabilities, needs and requirements when interacting with automated vehicles. This may have implications in the design of such systems and also understanding the market for autonomous mobility.     

Behavioural intention to use fully autonomous vehicles: Instrumental,symbolic, and affective motives

Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) have the potential to transform the transportation industry with significant economic, social and environmental benefits. However, the mass deployment of AVs depends on public desire to use them. This study aims to examine the effect of instrumental, symbolic, and affective motives on the behavioural intention to use fully AVs. Based on a survey of 240 U.S. residents, a structural equation modeling analysis was performed. Our results suggest the behavioural intention to use fully AVs depends on fulfilling instrumental (i.e., performance expectancy and hedonic motivation), symbolic (i.e., personal innovativeness and social influence) and affective motives (i.e., trust and performance risk). These results have implication for designing policy interventions to increase the deployment of AVs.