Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 5
From Human-Machine
Interaction to Cooperation:
Towards the Integrated Copilot
5.1.
Introduction
This chapter aims to introduce and discuss the concept of
copiloting
applied to
the specific context of automobile driver assistance. For the past few years, we have
seen a massive inflow of embedded information devices (at the forefront of which
are the navigational aid systems), as well as the emergence of technologies for the
partial automation of driving (such as automatic speed regulators). All these
evolutions make the development of integrated copiloting devices necessary. Such
devices must be able to harmoniously cooperate with the driver and adapt their
assistance according to the driving context. As such, similar to what happened in
aeronautics during the 1980s, the problems of human-machine cooperation are now
a particular focus of attention in the automobile sector.
The fundamental question concerns the respective roles of humans and
technology in control of the vehicle. Must we seek to deliberately adhere to the
substitutive logic (replace the human driver with automaton as soon as it is
technically possible) or,
conversely
,
should we seek to count on the
complementarities of the human-machine couple, only assisting drivers when they
express the need for it and/or when they are not correctly able to manage the
situation? The “copiloting” approach, as it is dealt with in this chapter, is strictly
from the latter point of view: the objective is for technology to act as
support
for
