[GTO]

Sharing the press release as received:

SENSORY STEERING WHEEL KEEPS YOUR EYES ON THE ROAD

● Jaguar Land Rover researches rapid heating and cooling of the steering wheel for use with turn-by-turn navigation

● ‘Sensory steering wheel’ helps reduce driver distraction by keeping eyes on the road

● Drivers not paying attention is a major contributor to road accidents

● Thermal changes could also be used to warn of approaching junctions and roads with poor visibility

Tuesday, 29 May 2019, Whitley, UK – A steering wheel developed by Jaguar Land Rover could help keep drivers’ eyes on the road – by using heat to tell drivers when to turn left or right.

The research, in partnership with Glasgow University, has created a ‘sensory steering wheel’, parts of which can be quickly heated and cooled to inform drivers where to turn, when to change lane or to warn of an approaching junction. This could be particularly useful when visibility is reduced through poor weather or the layout of the road.

The technology has also been applied to the gear-shift paddles to indicate when hand over from the driver to autonomous control in future self-driving vehicles is complete.

Driver distraction is a major contributor to road accidents around the world and accounts for 10 per cent of all fatal crashes in the USA alone*. Jaguar Land Rover’s research suggests thermal cues could be a way to keep drivers fully focused on the road.

The cues work on both sides of the steering wheel, indicating the direction to turn by rapidly warming or cooling one side by a difference of up to 6oC. For comfort a driver could adjust the range of temperature change.

Studies have shown** temperature-based instructions could also be used for non-urgent notifications, where vibrations could be deemed unnecessarily attention grabbing, for example as a warning when fuel is running low, or for upcoming events, such as points of interest. Thermal cues can also be used where audio feedback would be deemed too disruptive to cabin conversations or media playback.

Alexandros Mouzakitis, Jaguar Land Rover Electrical Research Senior Manager, said: “Safety is a number one priority for Jaguar Land Rover and we are committed to continuously improving our vehicles with the latest technological developments as well as preparing the business for a self-driving future.

“The ‘sensory steering wheel’ is all part of this vision, with thermal cues able to reduce the amount of time drivers have to take their eyes off the road.

“Research has shown people readily understand the heating and cooling dynamics to denote directions and the subtlety of temperature change can be perfect for certain feedback that doesn’t require a more intrusive audio or vibration-based cue.”

The Jaguar Land Rover-funded research is part of a PhD study undertaken by Patrizia Di Campli San Vito at Glasgow University as part of its Glasgow Interactive Systems Research Section (GIST).

Jaguar and Land Rover models already boast a wide range of sophisticated Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) designed to improve driver and vehicle safety, including the new generation Head-Up Display in the Range Rover Velar. The Velar also features capacitive steering wheel controls for common functions that combine with the Interactive Driver Display to help reduce driver distraction.

[Thilak29]

Every human being is already tuned (read trained) to react during sensory situations like temperature variation, brightness variation and sound level variations. Such responses are not unique and vary based on various factors.

My natural response to unexpected temperature change is to shake away hands once the change is felt. if I use this technology I have a high cognitive barrier to cross.

[SmartCat]

After reading this press release, I instinctively checked the calendar to see if today is April 1st.

[JoshMachine]

Keep the car in Nagpur for 2 hours in the afternoon where the mercury is already eager to hit the 50 degrees Celsius mark.
I bet nobody will dare touch the steering wheel, it will be so hot. Forget turning left or right

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by GTO

Sharing the press release as received:

Well, temperature changes as a sensory feedback must be a first anywhere in the world, in any sphere of work. Worth watching what the research reveals.

Originally Posted by JoshMachine

Keep the car in Nagpur for 2 hours in the afternoon where the mercury is already eager to hit the 50 degrees Celsius mark.
I bet nobody will dare touch the steering wheel, it will be so hot. Forget turning left or right

The cooling function should be a welcome feature for Indian cars in the peak of summer. If cars can have heated seats in the winters in temperate countries and Arctic areas, why not cooled steering wheels (and seats for that matter) in tropical regions?

[srishiva]

They have money to sponsor such research ! Really absurd way of navigation through heat and cold. They can as well put a flap near the head that can slap the driver left and right. Since the temperature cant be high without burning your hands, would it even be felt during summer anywhere in the world ?

Why dont car makers give us cooled seats. It wouldn't use much energy and would help better than just having AC.

[travelwriter]

Some product manager didn't have anything to impress his/her boss with and came up with this. Would have been better if they just used vibrations instead of heat/cold sensors

[rovingeye]

So, what if I'm resting my left arm on the arm rest and suddenly a left turn arrives while I'm tired and have dozed off (hypothetically). Will the steering detect that too and make an alarm go off? If not, I'd like that use case addressed as well. Else, I'm not going to buy a JLR vehicle.

[Storm2.0]

They could have probably provided some kind of vibratory feedback something similar to ones observed on handheld controls of gaming consoles instead.

[Jeroen]

First time I ever heard of such a thing. That does not make it a bad or stupid idea of course. I am really not in a position to make that judgement call. I lack knowledge/experience in this area.

What is good to see is they are looking into reducing driver distraction. Which we do know is a big factor in accidents. So for that alone, I will give them the benefit of doubt. Old problem, but so far nobody has cracked it properly. So likely the industry needs to come up with something new.

They must have found a pretty nifty way to very quickly heat/cool parts of the steering wheel!

Jeroen

[condor]

Would a visual aid showing the direction for the turn, projected in front of the driver have been better ? It would also be less complicated than this.

[libranof1987]

This seems to be good intent but an impractical/ineffective solution? Getting drivers trained to follow, subconsciously and consciously, what the temperature on the steering wheel denotes is going to make this whole exercise fairly futile.

Originally Posted by Jeroen

They must have found a pretty nifty way to very quickly heat/cool parts of the steering wheel!

Would it be a good idea considering you have the airbag inflator nearby?

Originally Posted by condor

Would a visual aid showing the direction for the turn, projected in front of the driver have been better ?

Something like HUD?

[reignofchaos]

Its a PhD research project. Most probably it'll just be shelved after the research is complete. I'd not take too much into this. People do PhDs on all sorts of strange things.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by libranof1987

Would it be a good idea considering you have the airbag inflator nearby?

I would like to think a research team has thought about it. Having said that the heating/cooling is relatively small, apparently only 6oC.

Having an airbag deploying into your face, whilst just trying to steer, would certainly be a bit of a driver distraction I would think!

[BlackPearl]

Here in UK I see a lot of people driving with one hand and using the phone with the other, frequently looking down to check something. I don't know how this technology will help in this case. Also how does one stop people from using just one hand for driving? Using a beep to remind the driver if he/she is not keeping both the hands on the steering wheel for more than 5 or 10 seconds? Driver distraction is very difficult to mitigate with technology apart from autonomous cars, but that is giving too much power to a machine!