TY - JOUR
T1 - Vehicle surge detection and pathway discrimination by pedestrians who are blind
T2 - Effect of adding an alert sound to hybrid electric vehicles on performance
AU - Kim, Dae Shik
AU - Emerson, Robert Wall
AU - Naghshineh, Koorosh
AU - Pliskow, Jay
AU - Myers, Kyle
N1 - Funding Information:
Although the VSP vehicle was superior to the ICE and HEV vehicles in surge detection, there was no significant difference in pathway discrimination performance between the vehicles. In other words, although the participants were able to detect the initial movement of the VSP vehicle quicker than the other vehicles, this did not directly translate to more accurate discrimination of the vehicle paths. Since it is the accurate pathway discrimination that is more directly related to reducing the risk of collision with right turning vehicles, this study does not provide evidence that adding an artificially generated sound at a sound level selected in this study would significantly reduce the risk of collision with right turning vehicles. However, it is worth noting that earlier and more reliable surge detection can help reduce delay in street crossing initiation by a blind pedestrian in certain situations. That is, in many signalized intersections, a pedestrian phase, which include walk and clearance intervals, is linked to the vehicular phase, which is indicated by green light for the vehicles in the near parallel lane. At intersections where the vehicles in the near parallel lane are not allowed to turn right, for example when the perpendicular street is a left-bound one-way street, more reliable surge detection can help pedestrians reduce the number of missed crossing opportunities and quicker surge detection can shorten the delay in crossing initiation. Given the fact that the vehicle with an added artificial sound was detected more reliably when it started to move from a stationary position, auto manufacturers may consider equipping hybrid electric and battery electric vehicles with a system that emits a sound to alert pedestrians in low-speed maneuver conditions. Nevertheless, it is not our claim that adding an artificially generated sound will eliminate or reduce all the potential threats posed to blind pedestrians by quiet vehicles. Neither do we claim that the best way to address the issue of blind pedestrians’ safety due to the advent of quiet vehicles is adding artificially generated sounds. Instead, a comprehensive set of orientation and mobility tasks needs to be tested with different types of artificially generated sounds as well as non-acoustic countermeasures in order to present comprehensive solutions to the problems emerging from the rapidly growing fleet of quiet vehicles in our streets. In addition, systematic inclusion of hearing-impaired individuals and those with significant residual vision may allow us to examine the interactions between these participant characteristics and vehicle sound or environment. This project was supported by Grant #2R01 EY12894-07 from the National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the National Eye Institute. This project was also supported by the Vehicle Sound Study grant from Nissan Technical Center North America. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of Nissan Technical Center North America or any of its affiliates. The authors declare that they do not have any conflict of interest. 1. All vehicles tested in the study were mass-produced model year 2010 vehicles. Due to the non-disclosure agreement signed between Western Michigan University and the Nissan Technical Center North America, the exact make and model of the tested vehicles could not be reported. 2. VBOX Micro RLVBNIC01C, http://www.vboxusa.com/products.php 3. Traxxas 2.4 GHz, 2 channels, http://traxxas.com/gallery/Accessories-Parts/transmitters/TQ-24GHz-High-Output-Transmitter-Traxxas-Link-2-channel-2238 4. Casella Cel-490, class 1 SLM, http://www.enviroequipment.com/rentals/cel490.htm 5. Dell Latitude E6500, http://www.dell.com/us/dfb/p/latitude-e6500/pd 6. NI cDAQ-9172, http://sine.ni.com/nips/cds/view/p/lang/en/nid/202545 7. Canon VIXIA HF20, http://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/support/consumer/camcorders/flash_memory_camcorders/vixia_hf20 8. Beltone Special Instruments 120 Audiometer, http://www.beltone.com
PY - 2012/5
Y1 - 2012/5
N2 - This study examined the effect of adding an artificially generated alert sound to a quiet vehicle on its detectability and localizability with 15 visually impaired adults. When starting from a stationary position, the hybrid electric vehicle with an alert sound was significantly more quickly and reliably detected than either the identical vehicle without such added sound or the comparable internal combustion engine vehicle. However, no significant difference was found between the vehicles in respect to how accurately the participants could discriminate the path of a given vehicle (straight vs. right turn). These results suggest that adding an artificial sound to a hybrid electric vehicle may help reduce delay in street crossing initiation by a blind pedestrian, but the benefit of such alert sound may not be obvious in determining whether the vehicle in his near parallel lane proceeds straight through the intersection or turns right in front of him.
AB - This study examined the effect of adding an artificially generated alert sound to a quiet vehicle on its detectability and localizability with 15 visually impaired adults. When starting from a stationary position, the hybrid electric vehicle with an alert sound was significantly more quickly and reliably detected than either the identical vehicle without such added sound or the comparable internal combustion engine vehicle. However, no significant difference was found between the vehicles in respect to how accurately the participants could discriminate the path of a given vehicle (straight vs. right turn). These results suggest that adding an artificial sound to a hybrid electric vehicle may help reduce delay in street crossing initiation by a blind pedestrian, but the benefit of such alert sound may not be obvious in determining whether the vehicle in his near parallel lane proceeds straight through the intersection or turns right in front of him.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84990330603&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84990330603&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/0264619612443950
DO - 10.1177/0264619612443950
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84990330603
SN - 0264-6196
VL - 30
SP - 61
EP - 78
JO - The British Journal of Visual Impairment
JF - The British Journal of Visual Impairment
IS - 2
ER -