A review and inventory of in-vehicle Telematics devices was conducted in order to better understand the current state of practice and trends relating to their design and implementation. The review focused on human factors characteristics and interface features using accepted human factors practices, principles, and guidelines as a basis for the assessing likely impacts on driver distraction. The inventory examined market-ready in-vehicle products (both Original Equipment Manufacturer and aftermarket products), and identified a range of interface design features (e.g., control and displays characteristics, safety features, etc.) noting aspects and dimensions that have implications for potential driver distraction. The review was not intended to be exhaustive, but rather provide a diverse and representative range of system designs and configurations. The review canvassed nearly 80 in-vehicle devices/systems, and provided in-depth inventories of over 20 devices using a standardized data collection form to inventory basic interface design characteristics and features; much of the data collected addressed navigation systems. The inventory form is available as an Access database. Results indicated that devices tend to incorporate a large number of features and options, making it a potential challenge for drivers to learn all of the capabilities of a system and resulting in lengthy manuals. Although devices also tended to provide large amounts of information, some designs may allow for increased information presentation without necessarily sacrificing performance. Warnings or cautions against interacting with systems while driving were common; however, relatively few systems disable equipment when vehicles are in operation. A number of other observations and “industry trends” are presented and discussed. (Author/publisher)
Abstract