Enhancing driver’s experience through emotion sensitive lighting interaction
Authors: Braun Franziska , Edel Fabian , Ardilio Antonio 
Published: June 2022

The vehicle has become an intelligent product by innovative technologies. However, most of the new technologies address human safety, such as lane keeping or emergency brake assistance. The smart optimization of the driver’s well-being through sensitivity of the technology has been neglected so far. Thus, this study investigates the influence of emotion-sensitive lighting on the driver. Individual light interactions are based on detected emotions of the driver to enhance the individual driving experience. IntroductionLight and colors have an archaic effect on humans (Goldstein 2015). They trigger the human diencephalon to release the serotonin as well as cortisol. For example, light blue components in the light suppress melatonin release. This driver feels awake or concentrated. (Sabine Harrasko-Kocmann) Different factors such as traffic jams, aggressive driving behavior of other road users and challenging weather conditions have a negative impact on the driver’s feeling (Bitkina et al. 2019). The consequences are negative emotions such as anger, fear and worry, which in turn lead to inattention and insecurity. Also factors like tiredness and physical exhaustion can impact the human well-beeing. As a result, the driver is unfocused and annoyed after the ride or agitated and restless. Furthermore, stress for example, increases the risk of accidents because people become inattentive (Evers 2011). To counteract this and positively influence the driving experience, specific lighting interactions are intended to enhance the driver's feelings. In this work, lighting is used to influence the driver's mood. The aim of the study is to investigate whether the targeted use of light contributes to increase the well-being and which use-cases are particularly suitable.ApproachFig.1 shows the scientific approach for this work. Firstly, requirements are defined. They are based on a literature review on the psychological effects of light, an investigation of the target groups and a reflection on highly emotional driving situations. For testing, three use cases are defined in detail. The first deals with increasing the driver's concentration, the second with targeted stress reduction and the third with positive reinforcement of emotion. They include the emotional level of the driver, his or her journey start and destination, the target emotion, and the light interaction to achieve this emotion. A vehicle-prototype is modified to test the individual scenarios. Besides LED strips along the windscreen, the door frames and interior ambient lights, screens are installed in the doors and the roof [Fig.2]. In this way, not only individual light colors and intensities can be visualized, but also more complex, dynamic movements. To get a uniform effect the interior lights are synchronized with the visualization of the screens.Fig.2: CAD rendering of the prototype. One screen is placed in each of the doors and one in the roof. LED strips run along the windscreen and door frame. Ambient lights at the whole interior.For the qualitative study, 35 test persons are interviewed by using the prototype [Fig.3]. All test persons passing though the three use-cases. In order to measure the success of the light effect, the pulse and surface moisture of the skin are measured. In addition, there is a discussion before and after each use case. ConclusionThe prototype has been built and the lightning interaction implemented. During the preparation of this abstract, the user testings are conducted. The full paper and also the oral presentation will show more details about the methodology and the evaluation of the testing.