A Head-Mounted Display to Support Teleoperations of Shared Automated Vehicles

Automated driving systems will be severely challenged in the unpredictable conditions of mixed traffic. Consequently, some form of human support remains essential in the foreseeable future. This challenge is especially true for Shared Automated Vehicles (SAVs), as these vehicles will likely not include any human driver on-board. When an SAV will encounter a scenario it cannot handle, a remote human operator will need to intervene and help the vehicle and its passengers. In this study a user-centred design approach is used to study whether a Head-Mounted Display (HMD) interface can support such operators and provide them with additional spatial awareness. Two prototypes (an HMD and a computer display) are developed and evaluated using pre-recorded real-world scenarios. Twelve participants assessed three possible scenarios a remote operator may encounter. Among participants, the study found evidence of strong implicit spatial awareness when using an HMD interface.