Effects of Pedestrian Behavior, Time Pressure, and Repeated Exposure on Crossing Decisions in Front of Automated Vehicles Equipped with External Communication

Automated vehicles are expected to substitute driver-pedestrian communication via LED strips or displays. This communication is expected to improve trust and the crossing process in general. However, numerous factors such as other pedestrians’ behavior, perceived time pressure, or previous experience influence crossing decisions. Therefore, we report the results of a triply subdivided Virtual Reality study (N=18) evaluating these. Results show that external communication was perceived as hedonically pleasing, increased perceived safety and trust, and also that pedestrians’ behavior affected participants’ behavior. A timer did not alter crossing behavior, however, repeated exposure increased trust and reduced crossing times, showing a habituation effect.
Our work helps better to integrate research on external communication in ecologically valid settings.