In KARLI, Continental is playing a pivotal role in integrating an intelligent driver monitoring system and an intelligent user interface within an automated vehicle. The main objective is to design an optimized human-machine interaction.
Author: Christoph Wannemacher
At Continental, we are developing pioneering technologies and services for a sustainable and connected mobility of the future. We are guided by global, societal trends such as safety, information, the environment, and affordable mobility. We always align our innovations with the world’s current and future needs.
One of the main concerns of the KARLI funding project is to place the users of our systems and their needs at the center of technology development. Innovations such as automated driving will only be successful if we create a smooth interplay between people and technology- this is precisely the goal we are pursuing in KARLI.
Within KARLI, our team at Continental is working on solving the following problem: In the coming years, drivers will increasingly be confronted with different levels of automated driving – from assisted driving in the city center to highly and fully automated driving on the highway. Depending on the vehicle and the route, the driver will take on different roles and perform other tasks. The challenge is that the driver’s exact responsibility will not always be transparent and obvious at first glance. The result could be safety-critical “misunderstandings” between the user and the control system or, at the very least, a negative user experience that lacks comfort and trust in the technology.
We address this issue on two levels: First, we are working on the next generation of intelligent driver monitoring systems. These systems use artificial intelligence to continuously detect across all automation levels whether or not the driver’s current state meets the requirements of the respective automation level. If a discrepancy is detected, a human-machine interface controlled by artificial intelligence is activated – this would be the second component of our approach. This intelligent user interface learns to adapt to the respective user and address them to ensure a transparent and safe division of tasks between humans and technology.
As a project manager at Continental, I am fascinated by having a solid background in human-machine interaction and driver state recognition. I believe it helps shape the next generation of adaptive AI-based assistance systems. As a project coordinator, I also value the exchange with our consortium partners, who enable us to demonstrate and experience the innovations developed comprehensively.
