Browsing by Author "Ko, S."

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    Autonomous driving with an agent: Speech style and embodiment
    Lee, S. C.; Ko, S.; Sanghavi, H.; Jeon, Myounghoon (ACM, 2019-09-21)
    A driving agent can be an effective interface to interact with drivers to increase trust towards the autonomous driving vehicle. While driving research on agent has mostly focused on the voice-agent, little empirical findings on the robot-agent were reported. In the present study, we compared three different agents (informative voice-agent, informative robot-agent, and conversational robot-agent) to investigate their effects on driver perception in Level 5 autonomous driving. A driving simulator experiment with an agent was conducted. Twelve drivers experienced a simulated autonomous driving and responded to Godspeed questionnaire, RoSAS questionnaire, and social presence. Drivers rated the conversational robot-agent as significantly more competent, warmer, and providing higher social presence than the other two agents. Interestingly, despite this emotional closeness, drivers’ attitude toward the conversational robot-agent was contradictory. They mostly chose the conversational robot-agent as the best option or the worst option. Findings of the present study are meaningful as a first step of exploring the potential of various types of in-vehicle agents in the context of autonomous driving.
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    Investigating the effects of demographics and framing on the robot-theater program
    Nadri, C.; Dong, J.; Swaim, H.; Ko, S.; Sanghavi, H.; Jeon, Myounghoon (SAGE Publications, 2020-01-01)
    While STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) education programs have shown promise in increasing students’ interest in STEM and arts & design fields, the effects of demographic and other contextual factors have not been thoroughly investigated yet. While conducting robot-theater summer youth sessions with forty participants of the TechGirls international summer exchange program, we explored these factors. Participants in teams of four to six students created a script for a theater play that required the use of programmable robots. Results seem to suggest the influence of demographic factors such as nationality, as well as the effect of framing on participant attitudes towards robots and STEAM education. Subsequent validation of these effects in other studies is expected to contribute to refining the design of robot-theater and other STEAM education programs.
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    Modeling the effects of auditory display takeover requests on drivers’ behavior in autonomous vehicles
    Ko, S.; Zhang, Y.; Jeon, Myounghoon (ACM, 2019-09-21)
    In semi-autonomous vehicles (SAE level 3) that require driver’s engagement in critical situations, it is important to secure reliable control transitions. There have been many studies on investigating appropriate auditory displays for takeover request (TOR) but most of them were empirical experiments. In the present study, we established two computational models using a Queuing Network Model Human Processor (QN-MHP) framework to predict a driver’s reaction time to auditory displays for TOR. The reaction time for different sound types were modeled based on the results of subjective questionnaire in empirical studies. Separately, the reaction times for various non-speech sounds were modeled by using acoustical characteristics of sounds and previous empirical studies. It is one of a few attempts modeling the effects of auditory displays for TOR on the reaction time in autonomous driving. The current study will contribute to driving research by allowing us to simulate and predict drivers’ behavior.
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    Multimodal Takeover Request Displays for Semi-automated Vehicles: Focused on Spatiality and Lead Time
    Sanghavi, H.; Jeon, Myounghoon; Nadri, C.; Ko, S.; Sodnik, J.; Stojmenova, K. (Springer, 2021-01-01)
    To investigate the full potential of non-speech sounds, this study explored the effects of different multimodal takeover request displays in semi-automated vehicles. It used a mixed design - the visual and auditory notification lead time was within-subjects, whereas the auditory notification spatiality was between-subjects. The study was conducted in a motion-based driving simulator with 24 participants. All participants were engaged in four 9-min driving tasks in level-3 automated vehicle and simultaneously performed a non-driving related task (NDRT, online game). Each driving session contained three hazardous events with takeover request (in total 12 requests per user). The results showed that 3-s lead time evoked the fastest reaction time but caused high perceived workload and resulted in unsafe and non-comfortable maneuver. In terms of workload and maneuver, 7-s lead time showed better results than others. Auditory displays with directional information provided significantly better reaction times and reaction types. Subjective evaluation, on the other hand, did not show any significant differences between non-directional and directional displays. Additionally, the results showed that braking is a more common first reaction than steering, and that the NDRT did not influence the takeover request.