User Acceptance of Autonomous Vehicles: Review and Perspectives on the Role of the Human-machine Interfaces

Although autonomous driving has significantly developed in the last years, its acceptance by users is still low, even due to the different interaction modalities between the human agent and Autonomous Vehicles (AVs). Therefore, this paper proposes an analysis of the existing research on the influence of Human-Machine Interfaces (HMIs) on the user acceptance of AVs from the perspective of interaction design. The authors reviewed the fundamental changes in the way users interact with AVs. The paper focuses on the transfer of the vehicle control between the human and the artificial intelligence agent, the user experience of Non-Driving-Related Tasks (NDRTs) and sharing autonomous driving in public transportation, and the impact of external HMI on Vulnerable Road Users (VRUs). In addition, the paper analyzes the concept of acceptability and describes the existing user acceptance models. Finally, the paper explores the future challenges for promoting the design potential of autonomous vehicle HMIs and proposes areas worthy of research to increase the user’s acceptance of this technology.