Study: Eyes on autonomous cars improve pedestrian safety

Watch the video: Study – Robotic eyes on autonomous vehicles could improve pedestrian safety.

Artificial robot eyes for self-driving vehicles?

They look like the cars in the Pixar film Cars, but could improve pedestrian safety, according to a study.

To find out, researchers at the University of Tokyo equipped a self-driving golf cart with two remote-controlled robotic eyes.

They either look at the pedestrian or look away.

It was tested how the eyes affect pedestrians’ willingness to take risks.

Study participants played through various scenarios using virtual reality.

They had to decide whether or not to cross the street in front of a moving car.

The result: According to the study, if the vehicle was equipped with robot eyes, the participants could make a safer or more efficient decision.

To the surprise of the researchers(,) there was also a gender difference in the study results.

So many male participants chose to cross the street even if the car didn’t stop. This dangerous mistake was reduced by the look of the car.

Women made inefficient and more cautious decisions, choosing not to cross the street even if the car wanted to stop. This error was also reduced by a car with eyes.

Although other factors such as age (…) could also have influenced participants’ reactions, this shows that different road users may have different behaviors and needs that require different ways of communication in our future self-driving world. – Chia-Ming Chang, member of the research team

The study is not representative due to the small number of participants. The researchers now point out that the interaction between self-driving cars and the people around them requires much more research to ensure safety for all.

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