NEXTRANS Center & USDOT Center for Connected and Automated Transportation (CCAT) Partnership

Development of in-vehicle information dissemination mechanisms to reduce cognitive burden in the information-rich driving environment

Recent advances in information and communications technologies have enabled the development of in-vehicle information systems (IVISs) to provide both generic and personalized information to the driver.

An IVIS consists of multiple information sources that provide a range of information, such as real-time travel information, GPS-based navigation, phone-related interactions, weather forecast, vehicle status, warning and emergency alerts, etc. While there are benefits of providing information to the driver, a poorly integrated and/or designed information-rich environment can increase driver’s cognitive burden in the inherently multitasking driving activity. This can decrease the effectiveness of the disseminated information, and can entail negative safety implications. In addition, new paradigms of in-vehicle information are emerging as connected and automated vehicle technologies mature.

There is a critical need to design holistic IVIS that can integrate information from multiple sources while avoiding information overload for the driver.

Physiological data collected using in-vehicle biosensing devices, such as eye trackers, HD cameras and heart rate monitors, will be used to estimate and track driver’s cognitive state under real-time information provision. Developing integrated IVIS will enable the dissemination of a greater quantity and variety of information without overwhelming the driver, especially under connected and automated vehicle environments.