Design and Field Test of a Mobile Augmented Reality Human–Machine Interface for Virtual Stops in Shared Automated Mobility On-Demand

Abstract

Shared automated mobility on-demand (SAMOD) is considered as a promising mobility solution in the future. Users book trips on-demand via a smartphone, and service algorithms set up virtual stops (vStop) where users then need to walk to board the automated shuttle. Navigation and identification of the virtual pickup location, which has no references in the real world, can be challenging. Providing users with an intuitive information system in that situation is essential to achieve high user acceptance of new automated mobility services. Our novel vStop human–machine interface (HMI) prototype for mobile augmented reality (AR) supports users with information in reference to the street environment. This work firstly presented the results of an online interview study (N = 21) to conceptualize an HMI. Secondly, the HMI was prototyped by means of AR and evaluated (N = 45) regarding user experience (UX), workload, and acceptance. The results show that the AR prototype provided high rates of UX especially in terms of high pragmatic quality. Furthermore, cognitive workload when using the HMI was low, and acceptance ratings were high. The results show the positive perception of AR for navigation tasks in general and the highly assistive character of the vStop prototype in particular. In the future, SAMOD services can provide customers with vStop HMIs to foster user acceptance and smooth operation of their service.