The amount of information to be processed by drivers increases with the number of driver assistance systems (DAS). This implies that all relevant perception channels have to be used to convey information. The paper's contribution is to enable system designers to use differences in longitudinal acceleration as an information element in DAS. We conduct a study of the actual application context and examine the perceptible difference in longitudinal acceleration (kinaesthetic distortion). Thereby, we discuss dependencies of the perceptible difference on speed and acceleration immediately before the distortion. Furthermore, we investigate the spread of perceptional performance of different drivers. The results demonstrate smaller perceptible differences in acceleration at higher speed and weaker perception when the acceleration immediately before the warning is greater. This paper aims to provide a guideline for the implementation of brake warnings for informative DAS and for the adaption of the brake intensity according to current vehicle dynamics.
Practitioner summary: This paper aims to enable the kinaesthetic perception channel for informative driver assistance systems. A real world driving study reveals the perceptible difference in longitudinal acceleration (kinaesthetic distortion) depending on vehicle speed and acceleration and serves as a guideline for applying brake warnings as an information element in vehicles.
Keywords: brake notification; driver assistance systems; kinaesthetic distortion; perception; psychophysics.