Automotive Workshop
@ Mensch & Computer 2007

Theme

Components that include processing, communication, sensing and media are common in many areas in the automotive domain. With these novel technologies creating attractive in-car user interfaces has become a great challenge. Additionally, users expect interfaces that are intuitive and straightforward to use, without the need to read a manual. The overall experience in driving a car is more and more influenced by the man-machine interface, and hence creating a compelling user interface is of great importance for a successful product. Traditional means for user interface development as known from desktop computing are often not suitable, as many other conditions have an influence on the design space for automotive user interfaces. In comparison to many other domains, trial and error while the product is already in the market is not acceptable as the cost of failure may be fatal. User interface design in the automotive domain is relevant across many areas ranging from primary driving control, to assisted functions, to navigation and entertainment.

Topics
There are many challenges and topics that we like to address in the workshop. Original contributions from the following areas and beyond are welcome:

Important Dates

June 15, 2007: Deadline for submissions of workshop papers
Juli 06, 2007: Notification of acceptance for workshop papers
Sept. 03-04, 2007: AutoUI workshop at Mensch und Computer 2007

Juli 15, 2007: Early registration for the conference

Aims & Participants

The workshop seeks to bring together researchers, developers, practitioners and students from academia and industry who are concerned with envisioning, creating and implementing automotive user interfaces. The workshop will provide a venue to present novel research in this field and to discuss ideas and problems on the topic. The overall aim of the workshop is to foster a community that has interest and expertise in the domain of automotive user interfaces. The number of participants will be limited to 20 people to enable intensive discussions.

Submission

Prospective authors are invited to submit their contribution as a Word-Document according to electronically to automotiveui@googlemail.com no later than June 15, 2007. Participants will be selected based on their submissions by a program committee; papers will undergo a peer-review. Two types of submissions are encouraged:

The length of the submissions can be 2 to 4 pages for both categories. We also strongly encourage student papers who may also report work in progress.

Publication Format

Like each year, the conference will publish printed proceedings for selected submission. To be included in the selection process, submission must confirm to the submission guidelines mentioned above.

Location

Automotive 2007 will be held in conjunction with the 7th Mensch und Computer Conference in Weimar (Mensch und Computer 2007). For more information about the main conference, refer to Mensch&Computer . The actual workshop will take place on Monday, Sept. 03 (afternoon) and Tuesday, Sept. 04 (till lunch) at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar.

Timetable (tentative)

Monday: 3.9.2007

14:00-14:10 Welcome and Introduction  
14:10-14:30 Talk: Helen – Embodiment in Automobile Speech User Interfaces
Matthias Görtz, Thomas Mandl, Luis Arévalo, Christa Womser-Hacker University of Hildesheim amd Blaupunkt GmbH  
14:30-14:50 Talk: Komfortable Sonderzieleingabe per Sprache im Automobil
Kerstin Müller, Stefan W. Hamerich Harman/Becker Automotive Systems GmbH  
14:50-15:10 Talk: Driver Activity Recognition from Sitting Postures
Andreas Riener, Alois Ferscha Johannes Kepler University Linz  
15:10-15-30 Plenary discussion on research tools for automotive user interface research and development  
  Break  
16:00-16:20 Talk: User experience of driver assistance systems
Sascha Mahlke Berlin University of Technology  
16:20-16:40 Talk: Gas station flash survey – A Method for interviewing drivers
Dagmar Kern, Albrecht Schmidt Fraunhofer IAIS and B-IT, University of Bonn  
16:40-17:00 Talk: Die Bewertungsmethode Multitasking GOMS und ihre Anwendung für die Bewertung von In-Vehicle Information Systems
Leon Urbas, Marcus Heinath, Torsten Schaft, Sandro Leuchter Technische Universität Dresden, Technische Universität Berlin, Fraunhofer- IITB  
17:00-17:30 Plenary discussion on future in-car application and the resulting challenges for user interface research  

Tuesday: 4.9.2007

09:30-09:50 Talk: Ortsbasierte Suche im Fahrzeug
Susanne Boll Universität Oldenburg  
09:50-10:10 Talk: H-MMI – Interaktionskonzept für variable Daten und Funktionen
Stefan Graf, Andreas Keinath, Verena Broy BMW Group Forschung und Technik und Technische Universität München  
10:10-10:30 Talk: Cultural Adaptive Human Machine Interaction in Driver Information and -Assistance Systems
Rüdiger Heimgärtner Siemens VDO Automotive AG, Regensburg  
10:30-11:50 Discussion in subgroups: Why are we still using a steering wheel and pedals to drive a car? How can we enhance primary driving interfaces? What are the key challenges that we face when introducing new interaction paradigms in the car?  
10:50-11-00 Plenary presentation of the discussion results  
  Break  
11:30-11:50 Invited Talk (details will be announced soon)  
11:50-12:50 Panel and Plenary discussion on automotive user interfaces and car based computing applications.  
12:50-13:00 Wrap-up, conclusions, further plans

Organizers

Albrecht Schmidt, Fraunhofer IAIS and B-IT University of Bonn
Klaus Bengler, BMW Group Forschung und Technik
Paul Holleis, Nokia Research Center, Helsinki Finland

Technical Program Committee

Susanne Boll, Universität Oldenburg
Andreas Butz, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
Verena Broy, BMW Group Forschung und Technik
Alois Ferscha, Universität Linz
Hans Gellersen, Lancaster University
Stefan Graf, BMW Group Forschung und Technik
Gerhard Hanrieder, Harman/Becker Automotive Systems GmbH
Heinrich Hußmann, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
Dagmar Kern, Fraunhofer IAIS
Reinhard Klein, Universität Bonn
Antonio Krüger, University of Münster
Klaus Schaaf, AutoUni, Volkswagen AG
Henning Schröder, Harman/Becker Automotive Systems GmbH
Nhu Nguyen Thien, Siemens VDO Automotive AG
Michael Weber, Universität Ulm

Abstracts

GOMS und ihre Anwendung für die Bewertung von In-Vehicle Information Systems

Leon Urbas(1), Marcus Heinath(2), Torsten Schaft(1) & Sandro Leuchter(3)
(1) Institut für Automatisierungstechnik, Technische Universität Dresden
(2) Graduiertenkolleg prometei, Technische Universität Berlin
(3) Fraunhofer-Institut für Informations- und Datenverarbeitung (IITB), Karlsruhe

Zusammenfassung
Multitasking GOMS ist eine neue Erweiterung der Analysemethode GOMS (Goals, Operators, Me-thods, and Selection Rules: Card, Moran und Newell 1983). Sie dient der Modellierung einer Neben-aufgabe unter Berücksichtigung der Anforderungen einer Hauptaufgabe. Multitasking GOMS ermöglicht dabei die Berechnung der Interferenz zwischen Haupt- und Nebenaufgabe. Die Methode wurde für die Bewertung von In-Vehicle Information Systems (IVIS) entwickelt. Anhand eines Beispiels werden erste Ergebnisse zur Anwendung und empirischen Fundierung der Methode präsentiert.
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Gas station flash survey - A Method for interviewing drivers

Dagmar Kern(1), Albrecht Schmidt(1,2)
(1) Fraunhofer Institut Intelligente Analyse und Informationssysteme, Sankt Augustin
(2) B-IT, University of Bonn

Abstract
Interviews and questionnaires are very important techniques to acquire information from the potential user. Surveys are one tool to understand users' needs which is in particular helpful in the early phases of user interface design processes. To get meaningful information interface designers typically deter-mine the target user group for an application. Most commonly, when designing in-car interfaces, the car drivers are the prime target group. In this paper we suggest a method to involve this group for a quick survey and we report our experience. The distinct features of this method are the location where the survey takes place (the gas station) and the length of the interview (2 to 5 minutes). This place ensures that the people actually use cars and have driven for sometime before the interview. The time is determined due to the task (filling the car) and people typically do not have plans how to spend this time and are happy to use this spare time to answer questions.
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User experience of driver assistance systems

Sascha Mahlke
Center on Human-Machine-Systems, Berlin University of Technology

Abstract
A positive user experience has become an important goal for interactive system design. The aim of this paper is to discuss the usefulness of the user experience concept for the domain of automotive UIs. An integrative approach to user experience of interactive systems will be presented. The application of the approach to the domain of automotive UIs is illustrated and discussed using a first example.
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H-MMI - Interaktionskonzept für variable Daten und Funktionen

Stefan Graf, Andreas Keinath, Verena Broy, Gerhard Rigoll
BMW Group Forschung und Technik - München
Lehrstuhl für Mensch-Maschine-Kommunikation - TU München

Zusammenfassung
Die Integration mobiler Endgeräte ins Automobil stellt eine Herausforderung an das Interaktionskon-zept von Fahrerinformationssystemen dar. Das Menüsystem muss dabei auf die, durch die Geräte be-dingte, Variabilität des Funktionsumfangs eingehen können. Eine zweite Anforderung, die das zu entwickelnde Menüsystem erfüllen muss, ist der Umgang mit dynamischen Daten. Vorgestellt wird ein Interaktionskonzept für Fahrerinformationssysteme, welches genau diesen beiden Herausforderungen Rechnung trägt und ihnen durch einen hybriden Ansatz aus Objektorientierung, Such-Interaktion, Informations-Navigation und Pareto-Prinzip begegnet.
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Cultural Adaptive Human Machine Interaction in Driver Information and -Assistance Systems

Rüdiger Heimgärtner
Siemens VDO Automotive AG, Regensburg

Abstract
Adapting to the cultural differences in Human Machine Interaction (HMI) needs first to find out the cultural differences in HMI. Reduction of mental workload of the driver in dangerous traffic situation requires adaptive systems. Futhermore, the functional and informational complexity of driver informa-tion and -assistance systems today can not longer be handled only by the driver alone without employ-ing adaptability. Cultural adaptive systems automatically adapt the HMI to the needs of user groups, exposing a certain HMI behavior that depends on the cultural background. Careful design using meth-ods of intercultural usability engineering can help to overcome the problems arising by adaptability.
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"Helen" - Embodiment in Automobile Speech User Interfaces

Matthias Görtz(1), Thomas Mandl(1), Luis Arévalo(2), Christa Womser-Hacker(1)
(1) Information Science, University of Hildesheim, Germany
(2) Blaupunkt GmbH

Abstract
Embodied conversational agents may add value to speech dialogues within driver information systems. The experiment reported in this paper, compares a speech controlled driver information system devel-oped by Blaupunkt GmbH with a prototype enhanced with a virtual character provided by Charamel GmbH. An expert evaluation and a usability study were conducted in order to determine whether an anthropomorphic interface leads to a more effective dialogue and to a higher level of user acceptance.
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Komfortable Sonderzieleingabe per Sprache im Automobil

Kerstin Müller, Stefan W. Hamerich
Harman/Becker Automotive Systems GmbH - Speech Dialog Systems - Ulm

Abstract
In diesem Beitrag werden die Sprachbedienung und ihr technischer Hintergrund im Automobil erläu-tert. Insbesondere wird der momentane Stand der Sonderzieleingabe vorgestellt und analysiert, darauf aufbauend werden zwei neue komfortablere Ansätze zur Spracheingabe von Sonderzielen vorgestellt.
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Driver Activity Recognition from Sitting Postures

Andreas Riener, Alois Ferscha
Johannes Kepler University Linz, Institute for Pervasive Computing

Abstract
Automatically adapting vehicle settings due to activities of the driver has crucial impact to safety in road traffic, intelligent driver assistance and vehicle control systems as well as driving comfort. Dis-traction continues to increase by reason of technology growth (classical office- and home electronics like entertainment and navigation systems, televisions, Email and internet-clients, multimedia player, on-board computers, multi-function dashboards, game consoles, etc. are now built-in in cars). We study the possibilities of identifying typical drivers activities inside the car by evaluating pressure patterns collected from force sensor arrays, invisibly and unobtrusively integrated into the fabric of the driver seat and backrest. Along this key task, algorithms are developed for sitting posture recognition and empirical studies are performed to assess the reliability of activity recognition from sitting postures.
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Ortsbasierte Suche im Fahrzeug

Susanne Boll
Universität Oldenburg

Zusammenfassung
Mit dem Einzug des Internet werden in unseren Fahrzeuge ganz neue Möglichkeiten einer Informationsangebot für die Reisenden zur Verfügung. Auf der Fahrt kann dabei von Informationen über die Sehenswürdigkeiten der Umgebung, das Theaterprogramm am Zielort oder eine passendes Restaurant und Raststätte passend zum Füllstand des Tanks und dem Hunger der Mitreisenden. Das Informationsbedürfnis des Fahrers und der Mitreisenden ist dabei natürlich stark auf die aktuellen Reise bezogen, ist also ortsbasiert.
Um eine solchen Reisebegleiter zu entwickeln, werden spezialisierte Geo-Suchmaschinen es erlauben zu einem Ort oder einer Reiseroute begleitend aktuelle Informationen abzurufen oder auch aktiv über das Bordinformationssystem anzubieten. Mit der Analyse und Indexierung der räumlichen Semantik einer Seite werden das Geo-Web und Geo-Suchmaschinen die notwendigen Grundlagen legen.
In unseren Forschungsarbeiten entwickelten wir Technologie im Geographic Information Retrieval zum Aufbau einer Suchmaschine, die Webseiten auf ihren Ortsbezug analysiert und in einem räumlichen Index . In unseren Demonstratoranwendungen zeigen wir die Ergebnisse und das Potential räumlicher Suchmaschinen für eine Vielzahl neuer ubiquitärer Anwendungen.
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Organizers

Albrecht Schmidt, Fraunhofer IAIS and B-IT University of Bonn
Klaus Bengler, BMW Group Forschung und Technik
Paul Holleis, Nokia Research Center, Helsinki Finland

Technical Program Committee

Susanne Boll, Universität Oldenburg
Andreas Butz, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
Verena Broy, BMW Group Forschung und Technik
Alois Ferscha, Universität Linz
Hans Gellersen, Lancaster University
Stefan Graf, BMW Group Forschung und Technik
Gerhard Hanrieder, Harman/Becker Automotive Systems GmbH
Heinrich Hußmann, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
Dagmar Kern, Fraunhofer IAIS
Reinhard Klein, Universität Bonn
Antonio Krüger, University of Münster
Klaus Schaaf, AutoUni, Volkswagen AG
Henning Schröder, Harman/Becker Automotive Systems GmbH
Nhu Nguyen Thien, Siemens VDO Automotive AG
Michael Weber, Universität Ulm