Next generation automobile haptic seat: in inclusive way

Abstract

Autonomous Vehicles will change the present driving paradigm and the car will be considered a 3rd living space, contributing to the social inclusion of the visually impaired. This study aimed to develop a haptic seat to alert and inform passengers about certain situations on the road and define the perceived minimum, optimal and uncomfortable vibrational values to be considered when designing guidelines for the development of haptic devices. An instrumented car seat with 10 actuators was developed, and an experiment was designed and applied to 39 participants, to determine the Ascending Minimum Threshold (AMT); Descending Minimum Threshold (DMT); Optimal Vibration (OV) and Discomfort (D), and study the relationship of these variables with gender, anthropometric characteristics, and age. Software for data collection was also developed. This research found significant differences between men and women, regarding the MAT (female :24%, male: 26%), OV (female: 34%, male: 40%), and D (female: 47%, male: 60%), concluding that women showed greater sensitivity to haptic stimulation. Anthropometric measures and age also showed a correlation with the variables mentioned above. Therefore, this study suggests that differences between gender, anthropometric measures, and age of users, should be considered when designing haptic devices for car seats.