The Novelty Appraisal of the Feeling of Risk in Vehicles
Image credit: unsplashNowadays, vehicle assistance systems may assess the risks of the traffic situation with the help of advanced sensor technology and optimized algorithms.
However, the passengers’ feelings of risk in the vehicle have been mostly neglected.
According to the Component Process Model of emotions, during the feeling of risk, novelty is one of the relevant event appraisals leading to particular physiological and facial responses.
To identify whether indicators for novelty appraisal may be used for detecting the feeling of risk of vehicle occupants, we investigated physiological responses and facial expressions of individuals experiencing the feeling of risk with different levels of novelty.
Key Findings
This secondary analysis of an earlier simulator study revealed that:
- Pupil diameter amplitude
- Skin conductance level (SCL) changes
- Facial expression activity (inner and outer brow raiser, brow lowerer, upper lid raiser, and lid tightener)
were correlated with the reduction in novelty, suggesting that these indicators could reflect the novelty appraisal of the feeling of risk in vehicle occupants.
Hence, this research provides evidence for the novelty appraisal of the feeling of risk.
Furthermore, it informs research on affect-aware systems, which aim to identify and reduce passengers’ feelings of risk - ultimately helping to maintain trust in automated vehicles.
