[Preprint] When2Talk: When Should a Proactive In-Car Agent Talk?
We are pleased to share When2Talk (When Should a Proactive In-Car Agent Talk?), now available as a preprint.
The work is led by Kaiser Hamid with Peihang Li and Nade Liang.
When2Talk studies when a proactive in-car agent should communicate with passengers during autonomous driving, focusing on how communication timing should adapt to driving-event priority and passenger activity.
In a mixed-methods within-subject study with 41 participants in a VR-simulated fully automated vehicle, the work compares an event-triggered (ET) policy that communicates immediately at every event with a context-sensitive (CS) policy that selects Immediate, Delayed, or Silent communication. The context-sensitive policy increased communication appropriateness and substantially reduced perceived interruption, while perceived trust did not differ between the two policies.
The findings highlight event consequence, passenger activity, continuing information value, and confirmation need as key considerations for deciding when proactive in-car agents should speak.