Drive Right: Promoting Autonomous Vehicle Education Through an Integrated Simulation Platform

TL;DR

This study evaluates an integrated driving simulator platform's effectiveness in educating the public about autonomous vehicles, aiming to reduce perceived risks and increase trust in AV technology.

Contribution

It introduces a novel simulation platform and demonstrates its effectiveness in improving public understanding and trust in autonomous vehicles.

Findings

Simulator reduces perceived risk of AVs

Simulator increases perceived usefulness of AVs

Participants' trust in AVs improves after simulation

Abstract

Autonomous vehicles (AVs) are being rapidly introduced into our lives. However, public misunderstanding and mistrust have become prominent issues hindering the acceptance of these driverless technologies. The primary objective of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a driving simulator to help the public gain an understanding of AVs and build trust in them. To achieve this aim, we built an integrated simulation platform, designed various driving scenarios, and recruited 28 participants for the experiment. The study results indicate that a driving simulator effectively decreases the participants' perceived risk of AVs and increases perceived usefulness. The proposed methodologies and findings of this study can be further explored by auto manufacturers and policymakers to provide user-friendly AV design.