A Tangible Multi-Display Toolkit to Support the Collaborative Design Exploration of AV-Pedestrian Interfaces

TL;DR

This paper introduces a tangible multi-display toolkit designed to facilitate collaborative design exploration of autonomous vehicle-pedestrian interfaces, enabling multi-perspective visualization and direct interaction with simulated environments.

Contribution

It presents a novel multi-display toolkit that combines tangible objects and computer-generated imagery to support stakeholder collaboration in AV-pedestrian interface design.

Findings

Supports multiple viewing angles simultaneously

Enhances stakeholder engagement in design sessions

Facilitates direct interaction with simulated environments

Abstract

The advent of cyber-physical systems, such as robots and autonomous vehicles (AVs), brings new opportunities and challenges for the domain of interaction design. Though there is consensus about the value of human-centred development, there is a lack of documented tailored methods and tools for involving multiple stakeholders in design exploration processes. In this paper we present a novel approach using a tangible multi-display toolkit. Orchestrating computer-generated imagery across multiple displays, the toolkit enables multiple viewing angles and perspectives to be captured simultaneously (e.g. top-view, first-person pedestrian view). Participants are able to directly interact with the simulated environment through tangible objects. At the same time, the objects physically simulate the interface's behaviour (e.g. through an integrated LED display). We evaluated the toolkit in design sessions with experts to collect feedback and input on the design of an AV-pedestrian interface. The paper reports on how the combination of tangible objects and multiple displays supports collaborative design explorations.