Cooperation between drivers and automation: implications for safety

The purpose of this paper is to develop a recently proposed framework of human/machine cooperation towards a cognitive approach to human/machine cooperation in dynamic situations and apply it to the domain of in-car automation. Previous models of automation delineate the roles of human and machine in a task-based manner and primarily from the viewpoint of machine requirements. However, with increasing arguments that automation should support the human operator rather than replace them, Hoc’s (2001) framework offers a means of modelling the interaction from the perspective of teamwork – that is, from the viewpoint of human requirements.

In the present context, the framework describes how both the driver and the automation can be considered as separate agents pursuing their own goals while trying to facilitate a common task, but who may interfere with each other positively (e.g. mutual control) or negatively (mutual conflict). Vehicle automation, as an area of fervent research in ergonomics at present, provides the opportunity to explore the framework and use it to interpret current and emerging research findings. It is suggested here that many of the psychological problems underlying the introduction of in-car automation are a result of suboptimal communications between human and machine, and the framework is used to propose directions for future research in this area.