Date of Award
12-2025
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Human Factors Psychology
Committee Chair/Advisor
Dr. Shubham Agrawal
Committee Member
Dr. Christopher Pagano
Committee Member
Dr. Rick Tyrrell
Abstract
With the approval of conditionally automated vehicles, or SAE Level 3 automated vehicles, drivers can now engage in non-driving related tasks (NDRTs) during automation. However, conditionally automated vehicles require drivers to resume vehicle control when the system prompts them, and the decreased situation awareness due to NDRT engagement may impact drivers’ takeover performance. This thesis investigates the prospective use of wearable augmented reality (AR) glasses by conditionally automated vehicle drivers to engage in visual NDRT. Specifically, this study examined how NDRT display location affects drivers’ situation awareness in a driving simulation experiment with 60 participants. Three NDRT display locations were tested in virtual reality-based environments: (1) center screen, (2) head-locked AR display (i.e., fixed in space relative to head movements), and (3) vehicle-locked AR display (i.e., fixed in space relative to vehicle movements). Situation awareness was assessed using in-situ questionnaire-based measures and visual attention-based indicators such as average fixation duration, and fixation rate on the driving environment. Eye-tracking data for the head-locked AR display was not analyzed due to calibration-related issues. Statistical analysis results showed no significant differences in situation awareness question accuracy across the three display locations. Eye-tracking analyses indicated that participants had significantly longer driving environment fixation durations and lower fixation rate on the driving environment in vehicle-locked AR display compared to center screen. These findings could help inform the design of AR displays in conditionally automated vehicles to better support driver situation awareness.
Recommended Citation
Riley, Tyler, "Exploring Augmented Reality Non-Driving-Related-Task Locations to Enhance Driver Situation Awareness in Conditionally Automated Vehicles" (2025). All Theses. 4639.
https://open.clemson.edu/all_theses/4639