Driving Towards Inclusion: A Systematic Review of AI-powered Accessibility Enhancements for People with Disability in Autonomous Vehicles
It tackles accessibility challenges for people with disabilities in autonomous vehicles, providing insights for designers and policymakers, but is incremental as it reviews and synthesizes existing technologies.
This paper conducted the first systematic review of AI-powered accessibility enhancements in autonomous vehicles, evaluating technologies like brain-computer interfaces and voice-activated interfaces to address diverse user needs, and proposed an end-to-end design framework for inclusive in-vehicle environments.
This paper provides a comprehensive and, to our knowledge, the first review of inclusive human-computer interaction (HCI) within autonomous vehicles (AVs) and human-driven cars with partial autonomy, emphasizing accessibility and user-centered design principles. We explore the current technologies and HCI systems designed to enhance passenger experience, particularly for individuals with accessibility needs. Key technologies discussed include brain-computer interfaces, anthropomorphic interaction, virtual reality, augmented reality, mode adaptation, voice-activated interfaces, haptic feedback, etc. Each technology is evaluated for its role in creating an inclusive in-vehicle environment. Furthermore, we highlight recent interface designs by leading companies and review emerging concepts and prototypes under development or testing, which show significant potential to address diverse accessibility requirements. Safety considerations, ethical concerns, and adoption of AVs are other major issues that require thorough investigation. Building on these findings, we propose an end-to-end design framework that addresses accessibility requirements across diverse user demographics, including older adults and individuals with physical or cognitive impairments. This work provides actionable insights for designers, researchers, and policymakers aiming to create safer and more comfortable environments in autonomous and regular vehicles accessible to all users.