Brown, J.R. – VEMI Lab

Dude, Where’s My (Autonomous) Car? Defining an Accessible Description Logic for Blind and Low Vision Travelers Using Autonomous Vehicles

ederosby — Thu, 16 Oct 2025 18:13:33 +0000

Purpose: Autonomous vehicles (AVs) are becoming a promising transportation solution for blind and low-vision (BLV) travelers, offering the potential for greater independent mobility. This paper explores the information needs of BLV users across multiple steps of the transportation journey, including finding and navigating to, entering, and exiting vehicles independently.

Methods: A survey with 202 BLV respondents and interviews with 12 BLV individuals revealed the perspectives of BLV end-users and informed the sequencing of natural language information required for successful travel. Whereas the survey identified key information needs across the three trip segments, the interviews helped prioritize how that information should be presented in a sequence of accessible descriptions to travelers.

Results: Taken together, the survey and interviews reveal that BLV users prioritize knowing the vehicle’s make and model and how to find the correct vehicle during the navigation phase. They also emphasize the importance of confirmations about the vehicle’s destination and onboard safety features upon entering the vehicle. While exiting, BLV users value information about hazards and obstacles, as well as knowing which side of the vehicle to exit. Furthermore, results highlight that BLV travelers desire using their own smartphone devices when receiving information from AVs and prefer audiobased interaction.

Conclusion: The findings from this research contribute a structured framework for delivering trip-related information to BLV users, useful for designers incorporating natural language descriptions tailored to each travel segment. This work offers important contributions for sequencing transportation-related descriptions throughout the AV journey, ultimately enhancing the mobility and independence of BLV individuals.

Citation:

Fink, P.D.S., Brown, J.R., Coombs, R., Hamby, E.A., James, K.J., Harris, A., Bond, J., Andrulis, M.E., & Giudice, N.A. (in press). Dude, Where’s My (Autonomous) Car? Defining an Accessible Description Logic for Blind and Low Vision Travelers Using Autonomous Vehicles. Universal Access in the Information Society (UAIS).

Does Trust Even Matter? Behavioral Evidence for the Disconnect Between People’s Subjective Trust and Decisions to Use Autonomous Vehicles

ederosby — Wed, 21 May 2025 16:47:08 +0000

One of the most prevalent findings in the autonomous transportation literature is the strong connection between human trust and intentions to use autonomous vehicles (AVs). Indeed, trust is widely regarded as an essential antecedent for the adoption of AVs, a finding based primarily on survey-based methodologies. However, psychological theory has long suggested that self-reported measures of intention are fraught with contradiction – people often say one thing and do another. We examine this potential dichotomy here by experimentally characterizing the relationship between self-reported trust and behavioral decisions to use AVs. An initial survey of 444 participants assessed trust in AVs, identifying three trust categories: high, moderate, and low. Results demonstrated that people trust human rideshare drivers more than AVs. A subsequent in-lab behavioral study with 72 of these participants involved choosing a ride in an AV or a human-driven vehicle. Contrary to prevailing assumptions, our results reveal a deep chasm between intention and behavior: 97 % of participants, regardless of trust rating, chose to ride in the AV. This finding indicates that situational context, curiosity, and immediate circumstances heavily influence decision-making, mediating (and even overshadowing) self-reported trust levels. Employing Cognitive Dissonance Theory, we offer potential explanations for why participants reconciled their initial distrust with their subsequent actions. Our findings challenge the narrative that self-reported trust determines AV adoption and highlight the importance of situational factors in shaping user behavior. Using these results, we offer new insights and guidance for deploying AVs, suggesting that controlled, low-risk environments could facilitate broader acceptance of this emerging technology, providing a practical solution to the AV trust problem.

Citation:

Fink, P.D.S., Brown, J.R., Kutzer, K.M., & Giudice, N.A. (2025). Does Trust Even Matter? Behavioral Evidence for the Disconnect Between People’s Subjective Trust and Decisions to Use Autonomous Vehicles. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour (TRF), 114, 99-117. DOI: 10.1016/j.trf.2025.05.024.

The Design of mid-air ultrasonic haptic interfaces based on the perception of lines

eblackwood — Tue, 18 Jul 2023 18:15:55 +0000

Mid-air ultrasonic feedback is a new form of haptic stimulation supporting mid-air, touch-free user interfaces. Functional implementation of ultrasonic haptic (UH) interfaces depend upon the ability to accurately distinguish between the intensity, shape, orientation, and movement of a signal. This user study (N = 15) investigates the ability to non-visually perceive two ultrasonic lines with varying lengths (3, 5, and 7 cm) and
orientations (vertical and horizontal) using the palm of the hand. Key results showed that: (1) the orientation of the lines had no effect on a user’s accuracy when determining their relative lengths, (2) line length distinction significantly improved when the length difference was at least 4 cm, and (3) a clear learning curve was evident when evaluating a new user’s ability to perceive ultrasonic signals. The capabilities of UH technology identified and discussed within this study will help engineer user-friendly and functional mid-air haptic interfaces for future applications.

Keywords: Ultrasonic feedback, Mid-air haptics, User interfaces, Human-computer interaction

Citation: Loranger, J.A., Brown, J.R., Kindler, H.D., Fink, P.D.S., Dimitrov, V., & Giudice, N.A. (2023). The Design of mid-air ultrasonic haptic interfaces based on the perception of lines. In: I.L. Nunes (ed) Human Factors and Systems Interaction. Proceedings of the International Conference on Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics (AHFE’23). vol 84, 18-26. AHFE International, USA. DOI: http://doi.org/10.54941/ahfe1003586

Does it press? Investigating the efficacy of an ultrasonic haptic button interface for non-visual driving applications

eblackwood — Tue, 18 Jul 2023 18:13:33 +0000

Ultrasonic haptic (UH) feedback employs mid-air ultrasound waves detectable by the palm of the hand. This interface demonstrates a novel opportunity to utilize non-visual input and output (I/O) functionalities in interactive applications, such as vehicle controls that allow the user to keep their eyes on the road. However, more work is needed to evaluate the useability of such an interface. In this study, 16 blindfolded participants completed tasks involving finding and counting UH buttons, associating buttons with audio cues, learning spatial arrangements, and determining button states. Results showed that users were generally successful with 2–4 arranged buttons and could associate them with audio cues with an average accuracy of 77.1%. Participants were also able to comprehend button spatial arrangements with 77.8% accuracy and engage in reconstruction tasks, suggesting development of reasonably accurate spatial representations. These results signify the capability of UH feedback to have real-world I/O functionality and serve to guide future exploration in this area.

Keywords: Ultrasonic haptic feedback, Mid-air haptics, Ultrasonic buttons, Non-visual interface

Citation: Alsamsam, M., Fink, P.D.S., Brown, J.R., Dimitrov, V., & Giudice, N.A. (2023). Does it press? Investigating the efficacy of an ultrasonic haptic button interface for non-visual driving applications. In: G. Praetorius, C. Sellberg, & R. Patriarca (eds) Human Factors in Transportation. Proceedings of the International Conference on Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics (AHFE’23). vol 95, 343-353. AHFE International, USA. DOI: http://doi.org/10.54941/ahfe1003819