AI technology can handle the driving of autonomous vehicles on certain routes without compromising on safety – all while the driver is free to engage in relaxing activities such as reading, drawing, playing chess or even sleeping. But how could the driver be “woken up” when it is time to take over the steering wheel? This question is being investigated in a collaborative project between Volvo Cars, SmartEye and RISE.
It may sound easy to wake a driver up after several hours of relaxing travel on the motorway. All it takes are loud sirens, strong seat vibrations and a voice shouting “No more relaxing! We are approaching an urban area and it is time for you to take control of the vehicle again.”
But who wants such an abrupt awakening?
– “It is one thing if the autonomous vehicles finds itself in a critical situation and the driver immediately needs to drive actively again. The “awakening” may have to be abrupt in those cases. But, above all, what we are looking at in this project is how the vehicle itself can re-engage the driver when there are 1-3 minutes left of the autonomous route, for example when it is time to exit the motorway and drive into an urban area,” says Jonas Andersson, Senior Researcher at RISE and one of the project participants.
What is the driver doing?
What is the driver up to at the exact time when the autonomous driving needs to come to an end? Talking on the phone? Gazing at the landscape? Or sleeping? Here, a camera could be used to register the facial expressions and behaviours of the driver, and AI technology could be used to help the vehicle “understand” what the driver is doing – in real time. Based on the driver’s activity and state, the vehicle can fully adapt how it will signal that it is time to take over the steering wheel again.
– “In some cases, this communication could take place using a display or a quiet sound. In other cases the seat might be moved from flat to upright and perhaps even from soft to hard,” says Jonas.
– “Together with Volvo Cars, we are developing concepts for how this could work. Volvo engineers develop the prototypes in special test vehicles and we then assess the experiences using test subjects.
The goal is to ensure that the transition from relaxation to active driving is both pleasant and safe.
Using AI, the vehicles will be able to adapt their driving style so that the driver finds it as pleasant as possible
Experience design in combination with AI
The project combines experience design with AI technology. Cameras using the AI technology interpret the state and behaviour of test drivers, while regular cameras record the tests themselves so that we can subsequently discuss the experiences with the test drivers.
Cristofer Englund, AI Specialist and Unit Manager at the Humanised Autonomy department at RISE:
– “This process not only helps us evaluate ways in which we can reengage drivers, it also develops the AI. If, for example, a driver recounts a particular moment as “pleasant” but the AI interprets it as the driver being irritable, the AI itself can go back to identify the cause of the misjudgement and correct its own interpretative ability. Using AI, the vehicles will be able to adapt their driving style so that the driver finds it as pleasant as possible.
In order for the AI to learn how to interpret all conceivable facial expressions and behaviours in a traffic environment, it is not enough to have around 30 different test subjects. If anything, it would require somewhere in the region of 5,000 or preferably even more.
– “In order to achieve this volume, we also create unique drivers using a simulator that has been based on another project in which we generate anonymous data together with SmartEye,” says Cristofer.
When will the new, smarter vehicles hit the roads?
The vision is that the transition to manual driving will be adapted and optimised for each individual, as AI can rapidly learn the habits and preferences of individuals.
When these new, smarter autonomous vehicles will enter the market remains to be seen.
– “It is hard to say. First, we need to be certain that the vehicle can safely read the situation surrounding the vehicle and make sensible judgements about when it is time to pass back control,” says Jonas. Perhaps the future will be here sooner than we expect.
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AI på RISE – kraftsamling för tillämpad AI
Utvecklingen av artificiell intelligens går nu så snabbt inom alla branscher – och involverar så många områden, alltifrån AI-teknik till etik och juridik – att det är svårt även för experter och specialister att överblicka alla möjligheter och utmaningar. Initiativet ”AI på RISE” ska med start i januari 2021 hjälpa företag och myndigheter att se mer potential i tekniken, använda den klokare och utvecklas snabbare.