Human Computer Interaction and the Automobile: Promises and Perils

Speaker:

John D. Lee

24 Apr 2013

2:00 PM

Alliant Energy-Lee Liu Auditorium, Howe Hall

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John D. Lee is the Emerson Electric professor in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and director of the Cognitive Systems Laboratory. His research seeks to better integrate people and technology in complex systems, such as cars, semi-autonomous systems, and telemedicine. This involves developing models of human-technology interaction and interface designs that consider how technology mediates attention. He recently help edit the Oxford Handbook of Cognitive Engineering, the Handbook of Driving Simulation for Engineering, Medicine, and Psychology, and two books on distraction, Driver Distraction: Theory, Effects, and Mitigation and Driver Distraction and Inattention. 10th Annual Emerging Technologies Conference.

Computers have left the desktop and have migrated into many parts of our lives. A particular promising and challenging example is that of computers in cars. They offer drivers important information and entertainment, but they also compete for drivers’ attention with potentially tragic consequences. Computers in cars can also support drivers as navigation aides, collision avoidance alerts, and even semi-autonomous vehicle automation. As in other instances of ubiquitous computing, computers in cars present the field of human-computer interaction with new challenges in developing technology and in understanding human behavior. This talk touches on three central challenges: avoiding driver distraction, sensing driver state, and harmonizing driver-automation interactions. Although different in the details, these same challenges face HCI as computers become more autonomous and migrate into multi-task, safety-critical domains.