Supplementary Material 1 - Supplemental material for A Case for Raising the Camera: A Driving Simulator Test of Camera-Monitor Systems

Supplemental material, Supplementary Material 1, for A Case for Raising the Camera: A Driving Simulator Test of Camera-Monitor Systems by Christoph Bernhard, René Reinhard, Michael Kleer and Heiko Hecht in Human Factors: The Journal of Human Factors and Ergonomics Society

Acceptance of truck platooning by professional drivers on German highways. A mixed methods approach.

Abstract Truck platoon driving is a current branch of automated driving, which has the potential to radically change the work routine of professional drivers. In a platoon system, one truck (semi-)automatically follows a lead truck with a reduced distance, which produces significant savings in fuel and enables better traffic flow. In a current application of truck platoon driving, the following vehicle operates at level-2 automation. Thus, the driver of the following truck merely has to supervise the semi-automated system, which takes over steering and speed control when engaged. Level-2 truck platoon driving had not been tested with professional drivers in real traffic before. We hypothesi…

Adapting to the pandemic: longitudinal effects of social restrictions on time perception and boredom during the Covid-19 pandemic in Germany

AbstractWith the Covid-19 pandemic, many governments introduced nationwide lockdowns that disrupted people’s daily routines and promoted social isolation. We applied a longitudinal online survey to investigate the mid-term effects of the mandated restrictions on the perceived passage of time (PPT) and boredom during and after a strict lockdown in Germany. One week after the beginning of the lockdown in March 2020, respondents reported a slower PPT and increased boredom compared to the pre-pandemic level. However, in the course of the lockdown, PPT accelerated and boredom decreased again until August 2020. Then, in October 2020, when incidence rates sharply rose and new restrictions were int…

A new perspective on CMS – testing the effect of camera displacement in a realistic lane-change task

Public acceptance of semi-automated truck platoon driving. A comparison between Germany and California

Abstract Platooning technology aims at achieving fuel savings by reducing the distance between two or more electronically coupled vehicles. This technology has recently been tested on public highways with heavy trucks in Germany and California. The objective of this study is to assess the level of acceptance among other road users as well as influencing factors of acceptance. An online questionnaire was administered in Germany and California with a total of N = 536 participants. They received information about truck platoon driving (level-1 and level-2 automation) and answered questions about their attitudes towards the technology as well as their behavioral intention to cooperate with the …

Supplementary Material - Supplemental material for The Ups and Downs of Camera-Monitor Systems: The Effect of Camera Position on Rearward Distance Perception

Supplemental material, Supplementary Material, for The Ups and Downs of Camera-Monitor Systems: The Effect of Camera Position on Rearward Distance Perception by Christoph Bernhard and Heiko Hecht in Human Factors: The Journal of Human Factors and Ergonomics Society

A Case for Raising the Camera: A Driving Simulator Test of Camera-Monitor Systems

Objective This experiment provides a first-of-its-kind driving-simulator study to investigate the feasibility of camera-monitor systems (CMS) with displaced side-mounted cameras in sedans. Background Among the increasing number of studies investigating the replacement of side-mounted rearview mirrors with CMS, the placement of side-mounted cameras has been largely neglected. Moreover, user preferences with respect to camera placement have not been validated in a driving simulator. Past research merely has shown that the vertical camera position can affect distance perception. Method In a driving simulator experiment, we investigated the effects of rearward camera placement on driver accepta…

User acceptance of automated public transport

Abstract Autonomous driving is receiving increasing attention in the automotive industry as well as in public transport. However, it is still unclear whether users are willing to use automated public transportation at all. In order to answer this and other questions, the transport company of the city of Mainz, Germany, tested the autonomous minibus EMMA (Elektro-Mobilitat Mainz Autonom) on a 600-meter-long test track in public space. The study presented here was conducted with the aim of exploring crucial determinants for the use of an autonomous minibus. On the basis of established acceptance models, a questionnaire was developed, which was completed in a field survey by a total of 942 par…

Wider is better but sharper is not: optimizing the image of camera-monitor systems

The replacement of rear-view mirrors with camera-monitor systems introduces new opportunities for design, such as altering the image quality and the rearward field-of-view. We investigated how the image quality and field-of-view might affect the distance and time-to-contact estimation of other vehicles. Eighty-six subjects estimated either their egocentric distance to a stationary vehicle (Experiment I) or the time-to-contact to an approaching vehicle (Experiment II). Throughout the experiments, the pixel density and either the field-of-view or the viewing condition varied. A larger field-of-view increased distance estimation accuracy and confidence. Reduced pixel density led to larger esti…

The Ups and Downs of Camera-Monitor Systems: The Effect of Camera Position on Rearward Distance Perception

Objective This study investigates the effects of different positions of side-mounted rear-view cameras on distance estimation of drivers. Background Camera-monitor systems bring advantages as compared to conventional rear-view mirrors, such as improved aerodynamics and enlarged field-of-view. Applied research has mainly focused on the comparison between cameras and mirrors or on positioning of in-vehicle monitors. However, the positioning of the exterior camera awaits investigation given that the perspective of the observer at does affect depth perception at large. Method In two experiments, a total of 50 students estimated metric distances to static vehicles presented in realistic or 3D-re…