A Novel Framework for the Assessment of the Impact of Affective UI Sounds in a Driving Situation Through Virtual Reality and Physiological Signals

The objective of this study was to develop an experimental framework that allows research on whether the combined use of a virtual reality (VR) driving simulator, electroencephalography signals collected during driving tests and designed attentional paradigms could be applied to assess the performance of affective warning sounds for re-channelling driver’s attention in certain driving situations. Three VR driving scenarios with different stimuli and two driving tasks were designed and implemented. Acquisition of driver’s physiological data and behavioural metrics were integrated to be gathered synchronously. In addition, an experimental protocol was designed for the assessment of the impact of affective warning sounds. The technical feasibility of the framework was evaluated with the results showing that the proposed framework enables the data acquisition and analysis for a variety of warning stimuli. After successful technical deployment, a study with experimental subjects will follow to evaluate the effectiveness of affective warning sounds.