Marieke Martens

Professorship chair

Automated vehicles and human interaction (TU Eindhoven).

Research area

Where human error has often been named one of the key drivers of developing automated driving, current challenges of automated driving are also more and more related to the human factor.

Some examples of the research questions that arise are:

• Do users still understand their vehicle?
• What does the vehicle need to explain to the passenger inside about its next action?
• How can we decrease uncertainty in and around automated vehicles?
• How do we need to design a transparent transition from automated driving back to the human who has been out-of-the loop?
• Do other road users still know how to interact with automated vehicles if human communication with the driver inside is no longer valid?
• Will society as a whole accept automated vehicles if not all accidents can be ruled out, including ethical questions?

The interesting element here is that we can form and shape this transition and development by taking Human Factors expertise into account and bring this in in international working groups that are currently making future regulations. The chair directly relates to the Roadmap Smart & Safe of the unit Traffic & Transport, aiming to reduce the number of accidents happening in traffic.

Top publications

• Zhang, B., de Winter, J., Varotto, S., Happee, R. & Martens, M. (2019). Determinants of take-over time from automated driving: A meta-analysis of 129 studies. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 64, 285-307.
• Carsten, O. & Martens, M.H. (2019) How can humans understand their automated cars? HMI principles, problems and solutions. Cognition, Technology and Work, 21, 1, 3-20.
• Dey, D., Habibovic, A., Löcken, A., Wintersberger, P., Pfleging, B., Riener, A., Martens, M., Terken, J. (2020). Taming thee HMI jungle: A classification taxonomy to guide, compare, and assess the design principles of automated vehicles’ external human-machine interfaces. Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives 7, 100174.
• Dey, D., Martens, M., Eggen, B., & Terken, J. (2019). Pedestrian road crossing willingness as a function of vehicle automation, external appearance, and driving behavior. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 65, 191-205.