Jaguar Land Rover’s future mobility division has come up with a new concept for autonomous cars, which could help to reassure pedestrians when crossing the road. The carmaker has begun testing self-driving cars with virtual moving eyes…
The Need to Build Trust
The idea has stemmed from the fact that many pedestrians prefer to make eye contact with car drivers before they decide to cross the road. This visual acknowledgement reassures people that drivers are aware of them, giving them the confidence to step out onto the road with safety.
So with this in mind, Jaguar Land Rover has aimed to implement an eye contact functionality into self-driving cars, in the hopes that it will build more trust between pedestrians and autonomous vehicles.
The British carmaker used statistics from an American Automobile Association study, which suggested that as many as 63% of pedestrians and cyclists wouldn’t feel as safe on the roads with the introduction of self-driving vehicles.
Pete Bennett, research manager at Jaguar Land Rover’s future mobility division, stated that it’s “… second nature to glance at the driver of the approaching vehicle before stepping into the road. Understanding how this translates in tomorrow’s more automated world is important…”
Replicating Behaviour to Improve Confidence
Jaguar Land Rover is conducting tests by installing ‘eyes’ onto their driverless pods, to observe and research people’s behaviours and reactions to them. This is being done to help pedestrians recognise an autonomous vehicles intentions, and to provide them with more information to improve confidence.
The virtual ‘eyes’ make contact with the eyes of a pedestrian, and signal to them that it’s safe to begin crossing the road. As part of the tests, the reactions of the pedestrians is also monitored. The actual ‘eyes’ themselves are not sensors but represent the self-driving vehicle’s awareness of other obstacles, they can fix upon a pedestrian much like a real driver could.
It’s an experiment that will involve around 500 people, observing them as they walk across a fabricated street. Self driving pods, built by British firm Aurrigo and modified with large animated eyes, will be used to make direct eye contact with a person.
Making Machines More Human
The relatable replication of human facial cues, behaviours and body language, is aimed at alleviating people’s inherent fear that autonomous cars wouldn’t be able to spot them, and therefore place them at risk of harm. Cognitive psychologists are set to analyse the behaviour of the selected pedestrians, before and after they make eye contact with the driverless pods.
Jaguar Land Rover’s study is part of the automotive company’s contribution to the government-supported UK Autodrive project. A three year collaborative consortium, of which several mainstream car manufacturers, and technology businesses have already become involved with. The project is currently running trials to introduce self-driving technology to the UK. Self-driving pods, currently without ‘eyes’, will also be placed around pedestrianised areas in Milton Keynes.
These studies and trials clearly show that the self-driving car industry is placing great value into the design and feel of their technology, as much as the actual technology itself. The idea that a autonomous vehicles will be able to interact with people like a human being, will serve to build the trust that’s needed to foster better relationships between man and machine.
