Increasing Truck Driver's Awareness: Use of In-Vehicle 3D Sounds

The objective of this Innovations Deserving Exploratory Analysis (IDEA) project was to develop and test a system using in-vehicle three-dimensional (3D) sound as a technique for augmenting the truck driver's situational awareness (SA). Sound insulation of the truck cab, designed to reduce noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH), coupled with the inherent limited visibility from inside the truck cab, can contribute to the reduction in the driver’s SA around the truck. Auditory icons representative of four road users (cars, bicyclists, pedestrians, and motorcycles) that a truck driver would typically encounter in traffic situations, were created and used to determine if a 3D sound system can increase the driver’s awareness of the traffic situation by hearing the road user’s location, and directional movement relative to the driver’s position in the vehicle. The driving clinic was conducted on a test course that was designed to simulate a suburban neighborhood delivery scenario. The results indicated that, when analyzing recognition accuracy, auditory icons resulted in high accuracy rates. All of the participants in this project commented that they felt that this type of system could be beneficial. However, further investigation and technological advancements will be needed in order to integrate 3D sounds into production vehicles.