European Conference on Human Centred Design for Intelligent Transport Systems

HUMANIST network of excellence organised a European Conference on Human Centred Design for Intelligent Transport Systems, in Lyon (France) on 3 & 4 April 2008.

The widespread deployment of in-vehicle driver information systems and the emergence of advanced driver assistance systems are profoundly transforming road transport.

Through these Intelligent Transport Systems, a range of services are offered to the driver with the objective of facilitating the driving task and improving travel safety.

Nevertheless, these developments raise numerous questions about acceptability by drivers and their impact on drivers’ behaviour and attitudes.

All this stands for encouraging a Human Centred Design approach, in which ITS are designed according to driver needs and are not driven by technological capabilities.

That is the reason why the HUMANIST Network of Excellence organised a conference on this topic.

During the conference, the following scientific topics related to Human Centred Design for Intelligent Transport Systems were dealt with:

  • Identification of drivers’ needs
  • Specification of new modalities of human-machine interaction
  • Modelling of drivers’ behaviour and their interaction with ITS
  • Development of innovative tools and methodologies for ITS design
  • Analysis of ITS impact on drivers’ behaviour and road safety
  • Strengthening driver awareness of ITS benefits

The event attracted 120 participants from Europe, Japan, Australia, Canada and USA, one held being members from the HUMANIST NoE and the other half being from other institutes and companies. An award for the young researcher’s best paper was granted to Nadja Rauch amongst 12 applicants; she is a young researcher from the University of Würzburg, Germany.

The next HUMANIST conference will be held in Berlin in 2010.