Toward a High-Level Integrative Comfort Model in Autonomous Driving

Abstract

Although the extant literature on comfort in the autonomous driving research is extensive, no integrative model has been proposed that includes major comfort-influencing factors and their interrelations. In this work, we conduct a literature review and elicit automation-related factors that directly influence a driver’s comfort. The 6 groups of factors include the driving environment, vehicle and automation, and the user’s activity, personality, and understanding of the system. We then structure these in a model comprising environment-, vehicle-, and user-related categories. The resulting framework supports framing research questions about comfort in automation.