Applications—Intelligent Vehicles: Driver Information

This article gives an overview of the current state and possible future of driver information applications. In the context of telematics, a driver information application can be regarded as a software component that wirelessly receives data, processes it and presents it to the driver and/or the passengers with the goal of supporting long-term decisions (e. g. what route the driver should select) or short-term decisions (e.g. the driver should react soon because of a certain event) in driving, or providing other information relevant to the trip (e. g. historical information on nearby landmarks) or the comfort of the driver and passengers (e. g. a personalized entertainment program). In this sense, three classes of driver information applications can be distinguished: Strategical applications with a horizon of several kilometers (route choice, planning the trip), Tactical applications with a horizon of a few hundred meters (notification/recommended actions regarding events right ahead) and Value-added services/entertainment (making a trip entertaining, informative, convenient). From a systems architecture point of view, a driver information application is part of a driver information system. This system can be split up into two domains: a vehicle domain and an infrastructure domain. Concerning the vehicle domain, a driver information system consists of a communication unit for wirelessly sending and receiving data, a processing unit for evaluating data, and a human machine interface to interact with driver and/or passengers. The infrastructure domain can – in short – be regarded as one or more data centers where information for vehicles is hosted and preprocessed. While this article does not cover issues around the human-machine interface for driver information applications in vehicles, some general guidelines hold when designing such interfaces. Driver distraction should be avoided in all cases – a holistic concept-of-use for all different interfaces in the vehicle (e. g. Multifunction display, navigation screen, speakers) should increase driver awareness and understanding of the current traffic situation. Furthermore, applications should be designed taking the driver into account as well as the need for vehicle security and the protection of privacy. Finally, the increasing number of public, private, free-of-charge and commercial sources offering information for such applications creates a challenge: when two or more sources have different or even contradictory information for a road segment, which version is correct? This assessment should not be left to the driver, but the vehicle should have enough meta-information available to evaluate information accuracy and timeliness. The ultimate goal of driver information applications is to inform – not to decide. The driver should not be overstimulated. The driver should be aware of the traffic situation on his/her journey, know about possible alternatives and consequences when driving. The well-informed driver will make well-thought– out decisions. In the following, in Section 0.2 the technologies relevant for driver Information applications are identified. Second, the different types of driver information applications are outlined: value-added services (Section 0.3), strategical driver information applications (Section 0.4) and tactical driver information applications (Section 0.5) Keywords: car-to-car communication; strategical applications; tactical applications; value-added services; navigation systems