Smart Vehicle Proxemics: A Conceptual Framework Operationalizing Proxemics in the Context of Outside-the-Vehicle Interactions

We introduce smart vehicle proxemics, a conceptual framework for interactive vehicular applications that operationalizes proxemics to outside-the-vehicle interactions. We identify four zones around the vehicle affording different kinds of interactions and discuss the corresponding conceptual space along three dimensions (physical distance, interaction paradigm, and goal). We study the dimensions of this framework and synthesize our findings regarding drivers’ preferences for (i) information to obtain from their vehicles at a distance, (ii) system functions of their vehicles to control remotely, and (iii) devices (e.g., smartphones, smartglasses, smart key fobs) for interactions outside the vehicle. We discuss the positioning of smart vehicle proxemics in the context of proxemic interactions more generally, and expand on the dichotomy and complementarity of outside-the-vehicle and inside-the-vehicle interactions for new applications enabled by smart vehicle proxemics.