The Smartphone and the Driver's Cognitive Workload: A Comparison of Apple, Google, and Microsoft's Intelligent Personal Assistants

The goal of this research was to examine the impact of voice-based interactions using three different intelligent personal assistants (Apple’s Siri, Google’s Google Now for Android phones, and Microsoft’s Cortana) on the cognitive workload of the driver. In two experiments using an instrumented vehicle on suburban roadways, the authors measured the cognitive workload of drivers when they used the voice-based features of each smartphone to place a call, select music, or send text messages. Cognitive workload was derived from primary task performance through video analysis, secondary task performance using the Detection Response Task, and subjective mental workload. The authors found that workload was significantly higher than that measured in the single-task drive. There were also systematic differences between the smartphones: The Google system placed lower cognitive demands on the driver than the Apple and Microsoft systems, which did not differ in this regard. Video analysis revealed that the difference in mental workload between the smartphones was associated with the number of system errors, the time to complete an action, and the complexity and intuitiveness of the devices. Finally, surprisingly high levels of cognitive workload were observed when drivers were interacting with the devices - “on-task” workload measures did not systematically differ from that associated with a mentally demanding memory/math Operation Span (OSPAN) task. The analysis also found residual costs associated with using each of the smartphones that took significant time to dissipate. The data suggest that caution is warranted in the use of smartphone voice-based technology in the vehicle because of the high levels of cognitive workload associated with these interactions.

• Record URL:
  https://aaafoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/TheSmartphoneAndTheDriversCognitiveWorkloadReport.pdf
• Summary URL:
  https://aaafoundation.org/smartphone-drivers-cognitive-workload-comparison-apple-google-microsofts-intelligent-personal-assistants/
• Supplemental Notes:
  • ©2015 AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.
• Corporate Authors:

  AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety

  Washington, DC  United States 
• Authors:
  • Strayer, David L
  • Cooper, Joel M
  • Turrill, Jonna
  • Coleman, James R
  • Hopman, Rachel J
• Publication Date: 2015-10

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Edition: Final Report
• Features: Figures; References;
• Pagination: 39p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Alternatives analysis; Analysis; Cognition; Drivers; Smartphones; Text messaging; Video; Voice communication
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01581015
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Nov 20 2015 5:12PM