What Drivers Make of Directional Maneuver Information in a Take-Over Scenario

Shared vehicle control is a potential intermediate step in the development of fully automated driving. A specific use-case for shared control is a take-over scenario involving conditional automated driving. Such cooperation essentially requires both partner's awareness of the other's intentions. This paper's authors focus on the communication of intent from the system to the driver. The message has to reliably represent the vehicle's intent, and the driver has to correctly interpret it. To investigate this aspect, we designed a driving-simulator experiment. It features an automated system, which recommends an evasive maneuver's direction during the take-over scenario. Drivers confronted four take-over scenarios, three with correct recommendations and one with an incorrect recommendation. We tested the understanding of and trust in the perceived information as well as resulting gaze behavior. The results reveal a mixed interpretation of the information in the first scenario with a shift to mainly correct understanding in the last scenario. Trust was significantly lower only for the case in which an incorrect recommendation was issued. No significant connection between understanding or trust and gaze behavior was found. We conclude that more information about the recommendation's origin should be provided to promote successful ensuing shared control.