Evaluation of a motor priming device to assist car drivers.

International audienceThe present work compares haptic and auditory warning (both LDWS) to a new way of prompting the driver to take action via the haptic modality. This assistance called “motor priming” can be described as a directional stimulation of the hands, which consists of an asymmetric vibration of the wheel. More precisely, the wheel oscillates with one direction of the oscillation being stronger than the other. This gives the impression that the wheel vibrates and “pushes” lightly in the direction where the corrective manoeuvre must be performed. This is not a LKAS proper, in the sense that its contribution to steering is minimal, but it provides some motor priming in addition to warning. Thus, it can be considered as a driving assistance at the boundary between LDWS and LKAS. The motor priming modes (with or without added auditory warning) gave rise to faster maneuvers than warning modes