Alerts for In-Vehicle Information Systems: Annoyance, Urgency, and Appropriateness

Objective: This study assesses the influence of the auditory characteristics of alerts on perceived urgency and annoyance and whether these perceptions depend on the context in which the alert is received. Background: Alert parameters systematically affect perceived urgency, and mapping the urgency of a situation to the perceived urgency of an alert is a useful design consideration. Annoyance associated with environmental noise has been thoroughly studied, but little research has addressed whether alert parameters differentially affect annoyance and urgency. Method: Three 23 × 3 mixed within/between factorial experiments, with a total of 72 participants, investigated nine alert parameters in three driving contexts. These parameters were formant (similar to harmonic series), pulse duration, interpulse interval, alert onset and offset, burst duty cycle, alert duty cycle, interburst period, and sound type. Imagined collision warning, navigation alert, and E-mail notification scenarios defined the driving context. Results: All parameters influenced both perceived urgency and annoyance (p < .05), with pulse duration, interpulse interval, alert duty cycle, and sound type influencing urgency substantially more than annoyance. There was strong relationship between perceived urgency and rated appropriateness for high-urgency driving scenarios and a strong relationship between annoyance and rated appropriateness for low-urgency driving scenarios. Conclusion: Sound parameters differentially affect annoyance and urgency. Also, urgency and annoyance differentially affect perceived appropriateness of warnings. Application: Annoyance may merit as much attention as urgency in the design of auditory warnings, particularly in systems that alert drivers to relatively low-urgency situations.

[1]  P. Vignal.  [Traffic safety]. , 1952, Gazette medicale de France.

[2]  J Edworthy,et al.  Improving Auditory Warning Design: Quantifying and Predicting the Effects of Different Warning Parameters on Perceived Urgency , 1993, Human factors.

[3]  J. Bliss,et al.  Reversal of the Cry-Wolf Effect: An Investigation of Two Methods to Increase Alarm Response Rates , 1994 .

[4]  Judy Edworthy,et al.  A comparison of different techniques for scaling perceived urgency , 1995 .

[5]  George Rosinger,et al.  Comparative Annoyance of “Approaching” versus “Receding” Sound Sources , 1969 .

[6]  John D. Lee,et al.  Effects of Multiple Auditory Alerts for in-Vehicle Information Systems on Driver Attitudes and Performance , 2001 .

[7]  D Fucci,et al.  Magnitude Estimation Scaling of the Loudness of a Wide Range of Auditory Stimuli , 1997, Perceptual and motor skills.

[8]  J. T. Hogan,et al.  Affective responses to commercial and experimental auditory alarm signals for anaesthesia delivery and physiological monitoring equipment , 1988, International journal of clinical monitoring and computing.

[9]  J. Edworthy,et al.  On using psychophysical techniques to achieve urgency mapping in auditory warnings. , 1999, Applied ergonomics.

[10]  Frank E. Block,et al.  Optimization of Alarms: A Study on Alarm Limits, Alarm Sounds, and False Alarms, Intended to Reduce Annoyance , 1999, Journal of Clinical Monitoring and Computing.

[11]  Alan H. S. Chan,et al.  Warning Design: A Research Prospective , 1999 .

[12]  R. Thouless.  Experimental Psychology , 1939, Nature.

[13]  J. Edworthy,et al.  Are there too many alarms in the intensive care unit? An overview of the problems. , 1995, Journal of advanced nursing.

[14]  Nadine B. Sarter,et al.  Good Vibrations: Tactile Feedback in Support of Attention Allocation and Human-Automation Coordination in Event-Driven Domains , 1999, Hum. Factors.

[15]  Michael A. Shulman,et al.  DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF FUNCTIONAL DEFINITIONS AND EVALUATION PROCEDURES FOR COLLISION WARNING/AVOIDANCE SYSTEMS , 1999 .

[16]  David D. Woods,et al.  Cognitive demands and activities in dynamic fault management: abductive reasoning and disturbance management , 1995 .

[17]  Judy Edworthy,et al.  Designing urgency into auditory warnings using pitch, speed and loudness , 1996 .

[18]  Judy Edworthy,et al.  The Relationship between Task Performance, Reaction Time, and Perceived Urgency in Nonverbal Auditory Warnings , 2000 .

[19]  Barry H. Kantowitz,et al.  Likelihood Alarm Displays , 1988 .

[20]  Edward Marshall,et al.  Alarms in nuclear power plant control rooms: current approaches and future design , 1995 .

[21]  E C Haas,et al.  Perceived urgency of and response time to multi-tone and frequency-modulated warning signals in broadband noise. , 1995, Ergonomics.

[22]  J. E. Veitengruber,et al.  Aircraft Alerting Systems Criteria Study. Volume II. Human Factors Guidelines for Aircraft Alerting Systems , 1977 .

[23]  John D Lee,et al.  Auditory alerts for in-vehicle information systems: The effects of temporal conflict and sound parameters on driver attitudes and performance , 2004, Ergonomics.

[24]  P. Mermelstein.  Determination of the vocal-tract shape from measured formant frequencies. , 1967, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

[25]  J Edworthy,et al.  Improving Auditory Warning Design: Relationship between Warning Sound Parameters and Perceived Urgency , 1991, Human factors.

[26]  R Graham,et al.  Use of auditory icons as emergency warnings: evaluation within a vehicle collision avoidance application. , 1999, Ergonomics.

[27]  J P Bliss,et al.  Human probability matching behaviour in response to alarms of varying reliability. , 1995, Ergonomics.

[28]  Daniel V. McGehee,et al.  Collision Warning Timing, Driver Distraction, and Driver Response to Imminent Rear-End Collisions in a High-Fidelity Driving Simulator , 2002, Hum. Factors.

[29]  J Edworthy,et al.  A user-centred approach to the design and evaluation of auditory warning signals: 1. Methodology. , 1995, Ergonomics.

[30]  Joshua D. Hoffman,et al.  Collision warning design to mitigate driver distraction , 2004, CHI.

[31]  C. Spence.  Multisensory attention and tactile information-processing , 2002, Behavioural Brain Research.

[32]  G. Kottmeyer,et al.  [The effects of noise on man]. , 1960, HNO.

[33]  M. Shafiquzzaman Khan,et al.  Development of an annoyance index for heavy-duty diesel engine noise using multivariate analysis , 1997 .

[34]  J. R. Comstock,et al.  A psychophysiological evaluation of the perceived urgency of auditory warning signals. , 1995, Ergonomics.

[35]  John D. Lee,et al.  Annoyance and Urgency of Auditory Alerts for in-Vehicle Information Systems , 2001 .

[36]  Louis Tijerina,et al.  PRELIMINARY STUDIES IN HAPTIC DISPLAYS FOR REAR-END COLLISION AVOIDANCE SYSTEM AND ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL SYSTEM APPLICATIONS , 2000 .

[37]  D. Laird,et al.  PSYCHOLOGICAL MEASUREMENTS OF ANNOYANCE AS RELATED TO PITCH AND LOUDNESS , 1929 .

[38]  D Fucci,et al.  Magnitude Estimation Scaling of Annoyance in Response to Rock Music: Effects of Sex and Listeners' Preference , 1997, Perceptual and motor skills.