Auditory alert for in-vehicle safety technologies: a review

Abstract

Safety technology has evolved rapidly in the past few years to become much more driver-aware and automatic. Many of these technologies build upon one another in a good, better, best pattern to provide the safest possible driving experience. It is expected that this system can eliminate or mitigate road accidents due to reckless and careless driving. However, safety or driver-assistance features are no substitute for the driver's responsibility to operate safely. A survey revealed that the warning alarms were turned off by 70% of drivers due to annoying audio characteristics. It is vital to consider frustration linked to an alarm, where it can affect the driver's behavior. It is recommended to identify optimum chime sound characteristics for the driver’s alert and respond appropriately to improve the effectiveness of the auditory signal. In this paper, a review on the identification of the type of warning modality, frequency setting, and warning priority for vehicle safety features technology from the selected vehicle manufacturers are explained.