Auditory experience in vehicles: A systematic review and future research directions

This study aims to investigate the recent literature on auditory experiences within automotive environments and discusses potential future research directions in this area. Forty-six papers obtained through the PRISMA protocol were selected from literature published over the past 15 years. The collected literature was categorized based on engine type, and a comparative analysis of research trends in the automotive industry was conducted, explicitly focusing on internal combustion vehicles (ICVs) and electric vehicles (EVs). A network analysis was performed utilizing the keywords of the papers to identify the predominant research topics. The analysis revealed research topics actively studied in existing ICV research but not covered in EV and newly emerging research topics in the EV field. The study proposes future research topics related to auditory experience design. It aims to provide insight into the design of auditory experiences in automobiles, particularly as the automotive paradigm expands to include electric and autonomous vehicles. •We reviewed auditory studies in automobile environments, focusing on EV trends.•We conducted network analysis and identified gaps in EV auditory research.•We suggested AI collaboration in future EV sound design.•We stressed inclusive sound design for all road users.