Driver AIDE

An all-in-one system to help streamline the wealth of hi-tech gadgetry overwhelming drivers is being developed by Volvo.

The car maker is leading a project with the University of Leeds and other major European universities and manufacturers, including BMW, Peugeot-Citroen and Fiat, to develop the Adaptive Integrated Driver-Vehicle Interface (AIDE) — to combine the current range of in-vehicle technologies.

The EU-funded project is a response to developers’ fears that the safety benefits of in-vehicle technologies could be cancelled out if drivers become over-reliant on advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), including collision warning and vision enhancement. This is combined with the growing concern that in-vehicle information systems (IVIS) such as communication and information devices could also distract drivers.

Potential for conflict also arises if these different independent devices all compete for the driver’s attention simultaneously, and there is the concern that when systems are combined behavioural responses may differ from when they are used in isolation.