Feasibility analysis of the usage of head-up display devices and speech recognition in real vehicular environments

In recent years, the number of on-board devices that provide information about the vehicle, the driving process and the environment has increased. Nevertheless, these devices can be very distracting. Head-up display devices (HUDs) and speech recognition may be good technologies to enrich the experience of drivers while keeping safety under control. Thus, the purpose of this study is to carry out an evaluation of these technologies under real conditions. A total of 50 drivers participated in a study divided into two parts. In the first part, we performed an evaluation of the usage of driving assistants with HUD devices under real conditions. We also compared HUDs with conventional head-down display (HDD) screens. Finally, we asked users about their opinion on methods of interaction with HUDs. Considering the results, the second part of the study aimed at evaluating interaction with HUD devices using speech recognition. 65% of the drivers prefer to use HUDs instead of HDDs for safety reasons. Furthermore, the participants prefer to interact with HUDs using voice commands. 86.66% of the users stated that this method of interaction improved their feeling of safety. The main conclusion is that users agree that driving assistants combined with HUDs are useful and safe at the same time. Moreover, the interaction with HUDs through voice commands is accepted by the majority of the users; it improves their sensation of safety because they do not need to look away from the road to use driving assistants.