Autonomous vehicle technology is rapidly emerging within the transportation industry.
While much of the current research has focused on private automobiles, a driverless future is primed to have an impact on shared transit as well.
Orbit addresses the needs of a broad and variable passenger population when there is no operator in a shared vehicle.
We are a team of five designers, researchers, and technologists from the Master of Human-Computer Interaction program at Carnegie Mellon University.
This eight-month capstone project is sponsored by Honda's 99P Labs, a digital proving ground for mobility and energy innovators.
Imagining a future where shared vehicles - or ‘people movers’ - increasingly become automated and eventually driverless, the team explored passenger mental models, needs, and goals in transit specifically as they relate to their relationship with the driver.
We hypothesized how these mental models might shift in a driverless environment, and developed a solution that supports passengers through four key points of friction that they commonly experience in transit.
These areas of opportunity include Familiarity, Information Modality, Discretion and Inter-Passenger Dynamics.
