Displays on autonomous cars could improve safety for cyclists

Animated representations of virtual drivers, traffic-light-like projections on to the road or emojis displayed on their surfaces could allow autonomous vehicles to share advance warning of their movements with cyclists.

The recommendations are based on findings from new research from human-computer interaction researchers and psychologists at Glasgow University. 

They are exploring ways to replace the complex non-verbal language currently shared between drivers and cyclists once cars begin driving themselves.

Previous research from the same team, which was published as a paper in April, suggested that future generations of self-driving cars should ‘learn the language of cyclists’ to help them safely share the roads with bikes.

Their new research, to be presented as a paper at the AutoUI ’23 conference in Ingolstadt, Germany next month, takes this further. 

The paper outlines the outcomes of workshops with cyclists which investigated how that language should be designed, displayed and interpreted to help reduce the risk of collisions between cars and bikes.