As the worldwide discussion about assisted and automatic vehicles (AVs) continues to evolve, the MIT Advanced Vehicle Technology (AVT) Consortium continues to conduct cutting-edge research aimed toward understanding how drivers interact with latest vehicle technologies.
Since its founding in 2015, the AVT Consortium – a worldwide collaboration between academia and industry to develop a data-driven understanding of how drivers reply to commercially available vehicle technologies – has developed a data-driven approach to studying consumer attitudes and driving behavior across diverse populations, leading to unique, diverse and world-leading data sets are created to enable diverse research applications. This research provides necessary insights into consumer behavior, system performance, and the way technology impacts real-world driving, helping to shape the long run of transportation.
“Increasing public trust in AI can be a very powerful think about the long run of assisted and automatic vehicles,” says Bryan Reimer, founding father of the AVT Consortium and research engineer on the MIT AgeLab within the MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics (CTL). “Without trust, technology adoption won’t ever reach its potential and should stall. Our research goals to shut this gap by understanding driver behavior and translating these insights into safer, more intuitive systems that enable safer, more convenient, more comfortable, more sustainable and more economical mobility.”
New findings from the JD Power Mobility Confidence Index study
A current one Study on the mobility trust indexThe study, conducted in collaboration with JD Power, showed that public willingness for autonomous vehicles has increased barely after a two-year decline. While this shift is very important for the broader adoption of AV technology, it is just one element of ongoing research inside the AVT Consortium, currently co-led by Reimer, Bruce Mehler and Pnina Gershon. The study, which examines consumer attitudes toward autonomous vehicles, reflects a growing interest within the technology — but consumer perceptions are only one a part of the complex equation AVT researchers are working to resolve.
“The modest increase in AV readiness is encouraging,” notes Reimer. “However, to construct lasting trust, we want to go deeper and examine how drivers interact with these systems in practice. Trust isn’t just based on interest; It's about making a reliable and comprehensible user experience that makes people feel confident over time. Trust can quickly erode.”
Building a data-driven understanding of driving behavior
The AVT Consortium's approach is to gather extensive real-world data on driver interactions across age groups, experience levels and vehicles. This data represents one in every of the most important datasets of its kind and allows researchers to look at system performance, driver behavior, and attitudes toward assistive and automatic technologies. The aim of AVT research is to check and contrast the benefits of technology versions from different manufacturers. The vision of AVT research is that identifying probably the most promising properties of varied manufactured systems makes developing latest designs from the facility of the positive easier and faster.
“The AVT Consortium’s work exemplifies MIT’s commitment to understanding the human side of technology,” says Yossi Sheffi, director of the CTL. “By delving deeply into driver behavior and attitudes toward assisted and automatic systems, the AVT Consortium is laying the inspiration for a future through which these technologies are each trusted and widely adopted. This research is crucial to making a transportation landscape that’s secure, efficient and adaptable to real human needs.”
The AVT Consortium's insights have proven helpful in shaping vehicle design to satisfy the needs of real drivers. By understanding how drivers reply to these technologies, the consortium's work supports the event of AI systems that feel trustworthy and intuitive, address driver concerns, and increase trust within the technology.
“We’re not only considering whether individuals are open to using assistive and automatic vehicle technologies,” adds Reimer. “We are studying how they use these technologies, what challenges they face, and the way we will improve system design to make these technologies safer and more intuitive for all drivers.”
An interdisciplinary approach to automotive technology
The AVT Consortium isn’t only a research initiative – it’s a community that brings together academic researchers, industry partners and consumer organizations. By collaborating with stakeholders across the automotive, technology and insurance industries, the AVT team can explore the complete spectrum of challenges and opportunities of recent vehicle technologies to make sure a comprehensive, practical and multi-stakeholder approach within the rapidly evolving mobility landscape. The interdisciplinary framework can be crucial for understanding how AI-driven systems can support people beyond the automotive.
“As vehicle technologies evolve, it’s critical to grasp how they intersect with the on a regular basis experiences of drivers of all ages,” says Joe Coughlin, director of the MIT AgeLab. “The AVT Consortium’s approach, focused on each data and human-centered insights, reflects a deep commitment to creating mobility systems that actually serve people. The AgeLab is proud to support this work, which is critical to creating future vehicle systems intuitive, secure and powerful for everybody.”
“The way forward for mobility is dependent upon our ability to develop systems that drivers can trust and use comfortably,” says Reimer. “Our mission at AVT isn’t only to develop a data-driven understanding of how drivers use and respond to numerous vehicle technologies across the lifespan, but additionally to supply actionable insights about consumer attitudes to enhance safety and usefulness. “
Shaping the long run of mobility
As assistive and automatic vehicles develop into more common on our roads, the work of the AVT Consortium will proceed to play a critical role in shaping the long run of transportation. By prioritizing data-driven insights and human-centered design, the AVT Consortium helps to put the inspiration for a safer, smarter, and more trustworthy mobility future.
MIT CTL is a worldwide leader in supply chain management research and education with greater than 50 years of experience. The Center's work includes industry partnerships, cutting-edge research and the promotion of sustainable supply chain practices.
