In-Vehicle Frustration Mitigation via Voice-User Interfaces – a Simulator Study

Abstract

Frustration while driving possibly causes accidents. Therefore, frustration-aware in-vehicle systems that help to mitigate frustration have gained in-creasing attention. Until now, little is known about effective interaction strategies. Recent studies indicate that voice interfaces enable natural hu-man-machine interaction and thus could be valuable for in-vehicle frustra-tion mitigation. Hence, this study investigates the effects of a frustration mitigation assistant via a voice-user interface as well as on its related user experience (UX) and users’ acceptance ratings. For this, a voice-user inter-face was designed that interacted with participants exposed to frustrating traffic situations during simulated driving. Frustration mitigation was adapted to these situations and based on well-established general emotion regulation theories. Participants (N = 13) took four drives in a driving simu-lator. Three drives served as distraction from the actual study goal while in the experimental drive participants were frustrated by goal-blocking traffic situations integrated in the simulation. In order to compare frustrating drives with and without voice interface, one half of the participants experienced the intervention of the voice-user interface (assisted group) while the other half drove without voice assistant (control group). After each drive the subjective frustration level was assessed via self-report. In addition, participants who experienced the voice interface were asked about their UX and acceptance. The frustration ratings indicate a tendency towards reduced frustration in the assisted compared to the control group. UX and acceptance ratings indicate positive experiences. Thus, this study provides first insights into the feasibil-ity of assistants via voice-user interfaces for in-vehicle frustration mitigation.