On-the-Move and in Your Car: An Overview of HCI Issues for In-Car Computing

The introduction of computing and communications technologies within cars raises a range of novel human-computer interaction (HCI) issues. In particular, it is critical to understand how user-interfaces within cars can best be designed to account for the severe physical, perceptual and cognitive constraints placed on users by the driving context. This article introduces the driving situation and explains the range of computing systems being introduced within cars and their associated user-interfaces. The overall human-focused factors that designers must consider for this technology are raised. Furthermore, the range of methods (e.g. use of simulators, instrumented vehicles) available to designers of in-car user-interfaces are compared and contrasted. Specific guidance for one key system, vehicle navigation, is provided in a case study discussion. To conclude, overall trends in the development of in-car user-interfaces are discussed and the research challenges are raised.