Increasing anthropomorphism and trust in automated driving functions by adding speech output
Abstract
Conditionally Automated Driving (CAD) functions need to be carefully examined regarding related driver attitudes such as trust and usability to increase their acceptance among future system users. By adding speech output to an existing audio-visual Human-Machine Interface (HMI), the level of trust in automation was suspected to be increased due to semantic information and the application of anthropomorphic features such as voice and gender. To test this assumption, N = 17 drivers completed two simulator drives, once with ('Speech + generic') and once without additional speech output (`Generic'). Having interacted with the automated system in different scenarios (i.e., letting the system execute a maneuver vs. taking over control from the vehicle), drivers completed comparative questionnaires on trust, anthropomorphism and usability. The applied questionnaire on trust in automation was structured after theoretical implications and derived from previous research on trust in automation. Results showed that the `Speech + generic' system was rated as superior for all three attitude measures compared to the `Generic' system. Furthermore, the present study describes a first approach on comprehensively examining trust in vehicle automation. We brought forth evidence that speech output is highly relevant in order to improve driver attitudes that affect acceptance of automated systems.
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People trust autonomous vehicles more when they display anthropomorphic cues (e.g., name, gender, voice), even when these superficial cues are unrelated to the underlying abilities of the vehicle.
“people trust vehicles more when they display anthropomorphic cues (e.g., name, gender, voice), even when these superficial cues are unrelated to the underlying abilities of the vehicle15–18.”
From The influence of mental state attributions on trust in large language models (2025) · cites this paper as [16]
Cites
An Empirical Evaluation of the System Usability Scale
Bangor, A., Kortum, P. T., & Miller, J. T. (2008) · International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction · doi:10.1080/10447310802205776 · Cited by 5,181 · see citing works
On seeing human: A three-factor theory of anthropomorphism
Epley, N., Waytz, A., & Cacioppo, J. T. (2007) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/0033-295x.114.4.864 · Cited by 4,069 · cited 2× · see citing works
“Anthropomorphism can be defined as tendency to imbue the real or imagined behavior of nonhuman agents with humanlike characteristics, motivations, intentions, or emotions [17].”
BackgroundMethodThe role of trust in automation reliance
Dzindolet, M. T., Peterson, S. A., Pomranky, R. A., Pierce, L. G., & Beck, H. P. (2003) · International Journal of Human-Computer Studies · doi:10.1016/s1071-5819(03)00038-7 · Cited by 1,276 · see citing works
The benefits of imperfect diagnostic automation: a synthesis of the literature
Wickens, C. D., & Dixon, S. R. (2007) · Theoretical Issues in Ergonomics Science · doi:10.1080/14639220500370105 · Cited by 423 · cited 1× · see citing works
“The 3:1 (system maneuver : take-over) ratio was chosen in order to get 75% system reliability for interaction scenarios as proposed by [21].”
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Large, D. R., Harrington, K., Burnett, G., Luton, J., Thomas, P., & Bennett, P. (2019) · Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Automotive User Interfaces and Interactive Vehicular Applications · doi:10.1145/3342197.3344545 · Cited by 74 · see citing works
The influence of mental state attributions on trust in large language models
Colombatto, C., Birch, J., & Fleming, S. M. (2025) · Communications Psychology · doi:10.1038/s44271-025-00262-1 · Cited by 34 · see citing works
- Authors
- Forster, Y., Naujoks, F., & Neukum, A.
- Affiliations
- Würzburg Institute for Traffic Sciences (Germany) (DE)
- University of Würzburg (DE)
- Venue
- 2017 IEEE Intelligent Vehicles Symposium (IV)
- Publisher
- IEEE
- Published
- 2017-06
- Pages
- 365-372
- ISSN
- 1931-0587 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2740994655
- Cited by
- 114
- References
- 4
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 18 · 2024: 17 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 24 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 17 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 3
- FWCI
- 15.50
- Type
- conference paper
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- IEEE Intelligent Vehicles Symposium (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Energie
- Trusted Autonomous Systems Defence CRC
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Human-Automation Interaction and Safety
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Social Robot Interaction and HRI
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Automotive Engineering › Autonomous Vehicle Technology and Safety
- Keywords
- conditionally automated driving, trust in automation, anthropomorphism, speech output, human-machine interaction, driver attitudes, usability, driver acceptance, vehicle automation
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