Challenge

In the winter of 2017, BMW and the Savannah College of Art and Design started a collaboration to explore Autonomous Vehicle-To-Traffic-Participants External Communication in the U.S. specific scenarios. The design challenge is:

“How can an autonomous vehicle communicate with other participants so that everyone stays safe?”

Drivers and other traffic participants, such as pedestrians, cyclists, and even wildlife, find themselves constantly communicating with each other along their journeys. When including autonomous passenger vehicles, channels of communication require clarification to ensure all stakeholders reach their destinations safely. The team set out to do so through contextual research and ideation. The following outlines their goals:

Deliverables

The most important deliverables of this project are a combination of a research summary documentary, a process book, and a research database with 700+ data points, offering the first-hand sources for BMW Munich headquarter to design solutions for the U.S. market.

Research Summary Documentary

This documentary showcases traffic participants' behaviors in the U.S. specific scenarios. The film outlines secondary and primary research, as well as our charts and findings.

Stakeholder Map

The interactive Stakeholder Map is a collection of stakeholders based on different scenarios in the US. The stakeholders are mapped out on an estimated range of interaction frequency with the autonomous vehicle.

Negotiation Scale

The Negotiation Scale displays the stakeholders based on the degree of discussion the autonomous vehicle will be required to exhibit. Those requiring high negotiation possess more complex needs where as stakeholders without the ability to negotiate require complete agreement.

Behaviors

Motivators

Opportunity Map

Communication Chanel

The goal of the Channels of Communication Map is to identify design opportunities through overlapping areas and solutions. Stakeholders such as bicyclists, pedestrians, and vehicles were included. The team set out to utilize lights in their concepts moving into ideation.