The Additional Pedestrian’s Behavior: Crossing the Road in Front of an Automated Vehicle in a Wizard of Oz Setting

With the increasing integration of automated vehicles into urban traffic, understanding pedestrians’ interactions with automated vehicles is essential to ensure both safety and efficiency. As complex scenarios involving more than one pedestrian in real-world contexts remain underexplored,...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Maximilian Hubner, Simon Bauer, Florian Bogner, Johanna Dechent, Christoph Hauenstein, Klaus Bengler
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IEEE 2025-01-01
Series:IEEE Access
Subjects:
Online Access:https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/11058924/
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850116926123016192
author Maximilian Hubner
Simon Bauer
Florian Bogner
Johanna Dechent
Christoph Hauenstein
Klaus Bengler
author_facet Maximilian Hubner
Simon Bauer
Florian Bogner
Johanna Dechent
Christoph Hauenstein
Klaus Bengler
author_sort Maximilian Hubner
collection DOAJ
description With the increasing integration of automated vehicles into urban traffic, understanding pedestrians’ interactions with automated vehicles is essential to ensure both safety and efficiency. As complex scenarios involving more than one pedestrian in real-world contexts remain underexplored, more clarification is needed on the relationship between additional pedestrians and automated vehicles’ communication. To address this, the present study investigates pedestrians’ crossing behavior in response to automated vehicles in a real-world setting, focusing on the influence of an additional pedestrian and the effectiveness of an external communication concept. A Wizard of Oz experiment was conducted in which a manually driven vehicle equipped with an external human-machine interface (eHMI) communicated its intent to pedestrians. Thirty-five participants took part in six scenarios that varied the automated vehicle’s communication mode (granting or claiming right of way) and the presence and behavior of an additional pedestrian (absent, compliant, or non-compliant with the automated vehicle’s intent). Results show that the presence and behavior of an additional pedestrian significantly influence crossing initiation time and decision-making, demonstrating the decisive role of social cues in automated vehicles-pedestrian interactions. Furthermore, participants interpreted the automated vehicle’s explicit communication reliably, supporting the effectiveness of the eHMI concept. The findings emphasize the necessity of robust automated vehicle communication strategies to facilitate safe pedestrian interactions in increasingly automated traffic environments.
format Article
id doaj-art-4073969f9a9d4516bf5679daa8223fd2
institution OA Journals
issn 2169-3536
language English
publishDate 2025-01-01
publisher IEEE
record_format Article
series IEEE Access
spelling doaj-art-4073969f9a9d4516bf5679daa8223fd22025-08-20T02:36:12ZengIEEEIEEE Access2169-35362025-01-011311392411394010.1109/ACCESS.2025.358422611058924The Additional Pedestrian’s Behavior: Crossing the Road in Front of an Automated Vehicle in a Wizard of Oz SettingMaximilian Hubner0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3478-8815Simon Bauer1https://orcid.org/0009-0000-9335-5131Florian Bogner2Johanna Dechent3https://orcid.org/0009-0000-4847-342XChristoph Hauenstein4Klaus Bengler5https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3906-6093Chair of Ergonomics, TUM School of Engineering and Design, Technical University of Munich, Garching, GermanyChair of Ergonomics, TUM School of Engineering and Design, Technical University of Munich, Garching, GermanyChair of Ergonomics, TUM School of Engineering and Design, Technical University of Munich, Garching, GermanyChair of Ergonomics, TUM School of Engineering and Design, Technical University of Munich, Garching, GermanyChair of Ergonomics, TUM School of Engineering and Design, Technical University of Munich, Garching, GermanyChair of Ergonomics, TUM School of Engineering and Design, Technical University of Munich, Garching, GermanyWith the increasing integration of automated vehicles into urban traffic, understanding pedestrians’ interactions with automated vehicles is essential to ensure both safety and efficiency. As complex scenarios involving more than one pedestrian in real-world contexts remain underexplored, more clarification is needed on the relationship between additional pedestrians and automated vehicles’ communication. To address this, the present study investigates pedestrians’ crossing behavior in response to automated vehicles in a real-world setting, focusing on the influence of an additional pedestrian and the effectiveness of an external communication concept. A Wizard of Oz experiment was conducted in which a manually driven vehicle equipped with an external human-machine interface (eHMI) communicated its intent to pedestrians. Thirty-five participants took part in six scenarios that varied the automated vehicle’s communication mode (granting or claiming right of way) and the presence and behavior of an additional pedestrian (absent, compliant, or non-compliant with the automated vehicle’s intent). Results show that the presence and behavior of an additional pedestrian significantly influence crossing initiation time and decision-making, demonstrating the decisive role of social cues in automated vehicles-pedestrian interactions. Furthermore, participants interpreted the automated vehicle’s explicit communication reliably, supporting the effectiveness of the eHMI concept. The findings emphasize the necessity of robust automated vehicle communication strategies to facilitate safe pedestrian interactions in increasingly automated traffic environments.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/11058924/Automated vehiclesexternal human-machine interfacepedestrian behaviorsocial influenceWizard of Oz
spellingShingle Maximilian Hubner
Simon Bauer
Florian Bogner
Johanna Dechent
Christoph Hauenstein
Klaus Bengler
The Additional Pedestrian’s Behavior: Crossing the Road in Front of an Automated Vehicle in a Wizard of Oz Setting
IEEE Access
Automated vehicles
external human-machine interface
pedestrian behavior
social influence
Wizard of Oz
title The Additional Pedestrian’s Behavior: Crossing the Road in Front of an Automated Vehicle in a Wizard of Oz Setting
title_full The Additional Pedestrian’s Behavior: Crossing the Road in Front of an Automated Vehicle in a Wizard of Oz Setting
title_fullStr The Additional Pedestrian’s Behavior: Crossing the Road in Front of an Automated Vehicle in a Wizard of Oz Setting
title_full_unstemmed The Additional Pedestrian’s Behavior: Crossing the Road in Front of an Automated Vehicle in a Wizard of Oz Setting
title_short The Additional Pedestrian’s Behavior: Crossing the Road in Front of an Automated Vehicle in a Wizard of Oz Setting
title_sort additional pedestrian x2019 s behavior crossing the road in front of an automated vehicle in a wizard of oz setting
topic Automated vehicles
external human-machine interface
pedestrian behavior
social influence
Wizard of Oz
url https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/11058924/
work_keys_str_mv AT maximilianhubner theadditionalpedestrianx2019sbehaviorcrossingtheroadinfrontofanautomatedvehicleinawizardofozsetting
AT simonbauer theadditionalpedestrianx2019sbehaviorcrossingtheroadinfrontofanautomatedvehicleinawizardofozsetting
AT florianbogner theadditionalpedestrianx2019sbehaviorcrossingtheroadinfrontofanautomatedvehicleinawizardofozsetting
AT johannadechent theadditionalpedestrianx2019sbehaviorcrossingtheroadinfrontofanautomatedvehicleinawizardofozsetting
AT christophhauenstein theadditionalpedestrianx2019sbehaviorcrossingtheroadinfrontofanautomatedvehicleinawizardofozsetting
AT klausbengler theadditionalpedestrianx2019sbehaviorcrossingtheroadinfrontofanautomatedvehicleinawizardofozsetting
AT maximilianhubner additionalpedestrianx2019sbehaviorcrossingtheroadinfrontofanautomatedvehicleinawizardofozsetting
AT simonbauer additionalpedestrianx2019sbehaviorcrossingtheroadinfrontofanautomatedvehicleinawizardofozsetting
AT florianbogner additionalpedestrianx2019sbehaviorcrossingtheroadinfrontofanautomatedvehicleinawizardofozsetting
AT johannadechent additionalpedestrianx2019sbehaviorcrossingtheroadinfrontofanautomatedvehicleinawizardofozsetting
AT christophhauenstein additionalpedestrianx2019sbehaviorcrossingtheroadinfrontofanautomatedvehicleinawizardofozsetting
AT klausbengler additionalpedestrianx2019sbehaviorcrossingtheroadinfrontofanautomatedvehicleinawizardofozsetting