Incorporating Situation Awareness Cues in Virtual Reality for Users in Dynamic in-Vehicle Environments

The increasing ubiquity and mobility of virtual reality (VR) devices has introduced novel use cases, one of which is using VR in vehicles, both human-driven and fully automated. However, the effects of the adoption of VR-in-the-car on user task performance, safety, trust, and perceived risk are still largely unknown or not fully understood. Blocking out the physical world and substituting it with a virtual environment has many potential benefits including fewer distractions and greater productivity. However, one shortcoming of this seclusion is losing situation awareness which becomes critical in dynamic, in-vehicle environments, even when the user is not in the driver's seat. Hence, this study aims to understand the effects of providing VR users with situation awareness cues about the real world, when riding in a human-driven or a fully automated car. The results of this driving simulator experiment provide valuable insights into passengers' experience and their information needs while immersed in VR environments. Identifying passengers' unique challenges and needs, as well as developing solutions for them, is expected to improve users' travel experience towards a wider adoption of VR devices.