Assessing the Impact of AR HUDs and Risk Level on User Experience in Self-Driving Cars: Results from a Realistic Driving Simulation

The adoption of self-driving technologies requires addressing public concerns about their reliability and trustworthiness. To understand how user experience in self-driving vehicles is influenced by the level of risk and head-up display (HUD) information, using virtual reality (VR) and a motion simulator, we simulated risky situations including accidents with HUD information provided under different conditions. The findings revealed how HUD information related to the immediate environment and the accident’s severity influenced the user experience (UX). Further, we investigated galvanic skin response (GSR) and self-reported emotion (Valence and Arousal) annotation data and analyzed correlations between them. The results indicate significant differences and correlations between GSR data and self-reported annotation data depending on the level of risk and whether or not information was provisioned through HUD. Hence, VR simulations combined with motion platforms can be used to observe the UX (trust, perceived safety, situation awareness, immersion and presence, and reaction to events) of self-driving vehicles while controlling the road conditions such as risky situations. Our results indicate that HUD information provision significantly increases trust and situation awareness of the users, thus improving the user experience in self-driving vehicles.