Cyborgs on the Road: Workshop on Augmenting Road Users to Quantify their Behaviour

We are excited to announce that we will run a workshop on augmenting road users at the Augmented Humans '23 conference here in Glasgow!

Workshop Introduction

There is an increasing number of studies evaluating road user (e.g. cyclists or drivers) behaviour in traffic. These are important for informing traffic safety, road infrastructure design and the impact of automated vehicles on traffic. Road user evaluations often involve collecting data such as perceived safety and motion sickness. However, collecting objective, quantified forms of these behaviours is challenging. Experimenters commonly measure these with questionnaires after the study. Finding solutions to collect these data in real-time without relying on participants' subjective input could result in more rigorous study designs and a better understanding of user behaviour. This workshop aims to gain insights on how road users may be augmented with devices, such as heart rate monitors, in evaluation studies to quantify behaviour on-the-go. The workshop will result in study designs that augment road users to quantify their behaviour, which would inform future research with novel techniques for data collection.

Important Dates and Call for Participation

We look forward to seeing you at our workshop! You have the option to submit a poster within the theme of augmenting road users by emailing your poster design to thomas.goodge@glasgow.ac.uk!

  • Workshop Date: 12/03/2023
  • Accepted Submission: Ruoqi Wang, Haifeng Zhang, Shaun Macdonaldand Patrizia Di Campli San Vito: "Increasing Heart Rate and Anxiety Levels with Vibration and Sound: Useful to Alert Road Users?" Link.

Workshop Schedule

Activity Time Content
Workshop Introduction 10:00-10:15 Workshop organisers introduce the workshop schedule and goals.
Attendee Presentations 10:15-10:45 Attendees who have submitted abstracts present their submissions.
Opening Keynote 10:45-11:15 A researcher with experience on augmenting road users for data collection presents their work.
Short Break 11:15-11:30 A short break to give attendees the opportunity to socialise and exchange contact information for future collaborations.
Demonstration Session 1
11:30-12:00 Workshop organisers demonstrate driving and cycling simulators to inspire attendees in later discussions.
Open Discussion 12:00-12:30 Workshop organisers and attendees openly discuss the challenges of measuring road user behaviours and the types of data that could be measured though augmentation techniques.
Lunch Break 12:30-13:00 Snacks and coffee will be provided to attendees.
Demonstration Session 2 13:00-13:30 Workshop organisers demonstrate various devices that can be used to augment road users, including an eye tracker and heart rate monitor.
Participant Group Discussion 13:30-14:00 Participants will be split into groups, each representing a road user. Groups are expected to design a user study which involves augmenting the road user they were assigned.
Short Break 14:00-14:15 A short break to give attendees the opportunity to socialise and exchange contact information for future collaborations.
Participant Group Presentations 14:15-14:30 Each group must present their user study. Other participants will have the opportunity to provide feedback.
Closing Keynote 14:30-15:00 Professor Stephen Brewster presents work involving cyclists augmented with eye trackers and bike computers in real world traffic.
Workshop Conclusion 15:00-15:15 Workshop organisers summarise the outcomes and collect feedback from attendees.

Workshop Organisers

  • Ammar Al-Taie is a PhD student in the School of Computing Science at the University of Glasgow. His area of research is Autonomous Vehicle-Cyclist interaction. This often involves utilising unconventional technologies, such as new displays on the car's exterior. Ammar is a "hands-on" researcher; most of his work is conducted in real-world settings using new technologies such as eye-tracking.
  • Katharina Pöhlmann is a Post-doctoral Researcher in the School of Computing Science at the University of Glasgow working on the ViAjeRo project. She earned her PhD in Psychology at the University of Lincoln. Her research focuses on using VR as a tool for motion sickness mitigation in AVs, focusing on multi-sensory cue integration to mitigate motion sickness.
  • Thomas Goodge is a PhD student in the Schools of Computing Science and Psychology at the University of Glasgow. His research focuses on Human-Car interactions in the context of driver awareness during takeover requests in autonomous vehicles. Thomas’ research attempts to apply cognitive methods used for measuring attention and awareness to evaluate driver states in autonomous vehicles.
  • Andrii Matviienko is an assistant professor at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden. His research focuses on the assisting technology in urban environments, in particular on designing, constructing, and evaluating multimodal and mixed reality interfaces for vulnerable road users. He is also a co-organizer of the SIGCHI-sponsored International HCI Summer School on Cycling and a series of workshops about vulnerable road users.
  • Frank Pollick is a Professor of Psychology in the School of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of Glasgow. He serves as the Director of Innovation, Engagement and Enterprise for the School and is co-author of the textbook Cognitive Psychology published by McGraw Hill Education. He has a diverse set of research interests that include how people interact with technology; neuroergonomics and the use of real-time fMRI neurofeedback to understand cognition; how the perception of human movement varies with expertise, disease and brain development. He contributes editorial service to the International Journal of Humanoid Robots and Technology, Mind, and Behavior.
  • Stephen Brewster is a professor of Human-Computer Interaction in the School of Computing Science at the University of Glasgow. His research focuses on multimodal HCI or using multiple sensory modalities and control mechanisms (particularly audio, haptics and gesture) to create a rich, natural interaction between humans and computers. His work has a strong experimental focus, applying perceptual research to practical situations. A long-term focus has been on mobile interaction and how we can design better user interfaces for users who are on the move. Other areas of interest include haptics, wearable devices and in-car interaction. He pioneered the study of non-speech audio and haptic interaction for mobile devices with work starting in the 1990s.