Complementary Audio-Visual Collision Warnings

TL;DR: Results reveal that multimodal warnings have the potential to produce a significant advantage over unimodal signals as long as their components complement each other in a way that realistically fits the situation at hand.

Abstract: The growing number of driver assistance systems increases the demand for warnings that are intuitively comprehensible. Particularly in hazardous situations, such as a threatening collision, a driver must understand the warning immediately. For this reason, collision warnings should convey as much information as needed to interpret the situation properly and to prepare preventive actions. The present study investigated whether informing about the object and the location of an imminent crash by a multimodal warning (visual and auditory) leads to shorter reaction times and fewer collisions compared to warning signals which only inform about the object of the crash (auditory icons) or give no additional information (simple tone). Results reveal that multimodal warnings have the potential to produce a significant advantage over unimodal signals as long as their components complement each other in a way that realistically fits the situation at hand.