Sleeping is an important basic human need, and yet many people do not have enough time for it in their daily lives. The increasing automation of vehicles creates new opportunities here: while the system is driving the occupants, the person in the driver’s seat could also close their eyes to take a nap.
However, before this can happen, important questions still need to be researched:
- How would people like to sleep in an automated vehicle?
- How do the occupants want to be woken up?
- What support do the drivers need after their nap – especially if they have to resume the driving task?
As part of the SALSA project (Smart, Adaptive and Learnable Systems for All), several partners from industry and research are therefore developing a holistic sleep concept for automated driving.
The Goal: A Holistic Sleep Concept
Anyone who has ever tried to take a nap in a vehicle knows that today’s vehicles are not yet designed for relaxing with your head back and sleeping. In an automated vehicle, you may also need to be ready to drive again quickly after waking up. However, due to “sleep inertia” – the feeling of sleepiness and grogginess after waking up – your ability to drive may be limited.
In SALSA, we address these new requirements for the vehicle and develop a holistic sleep concept. Holistic means that we consider all phases of sleep in the vehicle and develop solutions:
- Comfortable seating and interior concepts to fall asleep quickly and sleep without disruption
- Adaptive wake-up concepts for a pleasant awakening
- Innovative measures to counteract sleep inertia, to promote well-being and performance after waking up.
- The detection of sleep and the differentiation from waking relaxation with closed eyes.
Approaches
We are developing the sleep concept in the following steps:
- Determining the current state of science: Did you know that pilots are also allowed to sleep during a flight under certain conditions? For this reason, we are summarizing the current state of science on the topics of sleep, ergonomics, occupational psychology, and fatigue and we review guidelines on related topics, such as aviation. Some of the findings can also be applied to automated vehicles.
- Assessing user needs: We use surveys and interviews to find out how future users want to sleep in the vehicle and how they want to be woken up.
- Concept development: Based on user needs and the state of the art in science, we generate new concept ideas and bring them into vehicle prototypes and SALSA driving simulators.
- Scientific evaluation: Test drivers experience the new concepts in driving simulators and real vehicles and evaluate them. Based on the study results, the concepts are improved and re-evaluated.
Our Contribution to the Overall SALSA Goal
SALSA aims to improve safety and comfort in automated vehicles. Surveys show that sleeping is one of the most popular usage scenarios for future automated driving. At the same time, fatigue and sleep deprivation are not only a major problem for road safety, but also negatively influence the driving experience. By developing solutions that enable occupants to rest while driving and wake up well rested, we contribute to significantly improving the vehicle experience.
Nevertheless, special requirements for the interior and user state detection must be considered to ensure a high level of acceptance and safety. By developing a well-tuned sleep and wake-up concept for vehicles, the project aims to optimize the sleep quality of occupants and increase their safety and well-being while driving, thus increasing the attractiveness of automated systems.
