Accident Analysis and Prevention

This study examined whether speech-based interfaces for different in-vehicle-information-systems (IVIS) reduce the distraction caused by these systems. For three frequently used systems (audio, telephone with name selection, navigation system with address entry and point of interest selection) speech, manual control and driving without IVIS (baseline) were compared. The Lane Change Task was used to assess driving performance. Additionally, gaze behavior and a subjective measure of distraction were analyzed. Speech interfaces improved driving performance, gaze behavior and subjective distraction for all systems with the exception of point-of-interest entry. However, these improvements were overall not strong enough to reach the baseline performance level. Only in easy segments of the driving task the performance level was comparable to baseline. Thus, speech-based IVIS have to be further developed to keep the cognitive complexity at an adequate level which does not disturb driving. However, looking at the benefits, speech control is a must for the car of the future.