Assistance systems should relieve the driver and help to prevent accidents. However, it is often difficult to activate, set, and monitor the multitude of functions. A new interaction concept presented by ZF Friedrichshafen AG at CES 2018 in Las Vegas fundamentally changes this. The "Concept 2020" makes it possible to assess the status of all assistance systems with a single glance. In addition, the approach taken increases confidence in automated driving system.

Anyone who frequently drives a rental car knows the problem: The numerous activation and setting menus of the assistance systems in modern cars are often cluttered and cannot be operated intuitively. Comfort and safety functions work in isolation from each other, and controls and displays are located in different places: from the warning signal in the exterior mirror to the switch on the turn signal lever, from the pictogram in the cockpit to the LED on the center console.

In contrast to that, the jointly developed “Concept 2020” aims at facilitating the interaction between driver and vehicle as much as possible. For doing so, a central approach is the consolidation of all driving related functionalities into one consistent system which is called “Active Vehicle Aura”.  The “Active Vehicle Aura” status is displayed in the driving display directly in front of the driver with the means of up to three rings around the ego-vehicle which is visible in a bird’s eye style view. Whenever the system intervenes actively, an appropriate response is shown in the display by a deformation and discoloration of these rings. The systems intensity can be adjusted by the driver by removing or adding additional rings, which corresponds to the systems intensity and safety distance alike.

The presented concepts have been investigated in different user studies, utilizing ika’s broad variety of testing facilities including the highly dynamic driving simulator as well as a modified vehicle on the ika test track. All in all, the newly developed interaction concept strengthens trust and reduces the stress of automated driving.