On-the-Move and in Your Car - Human-Computer Interaction and Innovation in Handheld, Mobile and Wearable Technologies - page 75

FUTURE TRENDS AND
CONCLUSION

www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2142179,00.
html, September 2006). Recently, a survey of 872
vehicle navigation system owners revealed that
82% had received inaccurate guidance from the
technology (Forbes and Burnett, 2007). For these
users, 23% admitted to following dangerous or
misleading instructions on at last one occasion.
Further research is considering what role the
extended user-interface (training procedures,
manuals, marketing information) can have in
reducing such complacency effects.
Secondly, drivers who use vehicle naviga-
tion systems may not develop a strong mental
representation of the environments in which they
travel, commonly referred to as a cognitive map.
It has been stressed that traditional methods (e.g.
using a paper map) require drivers to be active in
the navigation task (route planning and follow-
ing)—Jackson (1998); Burnett and Lee (2005).
Whilst the demands (particularly the cognitive
demands) can initially be high, drivers who are
engaged are able to develop landmark, then route
knowledge, ultimately progressing to a map-like
mental understanding (survey knowledge). Such a
well-developed cognitive map means that drivers
are able to navigate independent of any external
source of information. Empirical research in this
area has shown that drivers using current forms
of user-interface for vehicle navigation system
do indeed experience reduced environmental
knowledge in relation to drivers using traditional
methods (Jackson, 1998; Burnett and Lee, 2005). A
key research question here is how user-interfaces
can be developed which balance the need for low
demands (workload) whilst simultaneously aiding
drivers in developing a well-formed cognitive
map (Burnett and Lee, 2005). In this respect,
recent research by Oliver and Burnett (2008) has
suggested that systems incorporating a range of
landmarks within the user-interface can assist in
the development of a cognitive map, without hav-
ing a negative impact on interface visual demand.

The incessant growth in the use of cars and wor-
ries about road safety have led car manufacturers
to offer more intelligent cars providing a range
of novel functions to drivers. Moreover, existing
mobile technologies such as PDAs, MP3 players,
mobile phones, and so on, are increasingly being
used within cars, as drivers seek to be more produc-
tive and to enjoy the time spent in their vehicles.
All of these computing-based systems offer po-
tential benefits to drivers. This article has focused
on some key design issues for user-interfaces from
the perspective of the individual driver. However,
as systems become commonplace within vehicles,
there are fundamental conflicts to resolve between
the requirements of an individual versus the overall
traffic system. In this respect, the design of an
in-car computing user-interface will be a critical
consideration. As an example scenario, one can
envisage many drivers using information systems
providing the same information at the same time.
Such a situation may lead to a range of problems,
for instance the use of roads not designed for
high volumes of traffic. Clearly, there is a need
for overall management and an understanding of
the impact that specific styles of user-interface
will have on driver behaviour.
A second broad issue for research concerns
the interaction between multiple systems. This
article has introduced the overload and underload
concepts and discussed them in turn relating them
to different individual systems. It is highly likely
that in the short to medium term, overload will be
given a prominent position in research and devel-
opment work, whereas underload will emerge as
an increasingly important topic in the medium to
long term. However, this singular view neglects
the fact that information and control-based sys-
tems are likely to be used together in a vehicle.
Clearly, there will be various interaction effects
for researchers to investigate. Moreover, there is a
fundamental need to find the right balance between