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 3 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 2 experiments using an instrumented vehicle on...

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Published in:Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology / Revue Canadienne de Psychologie Expérimentale Vol. 71; no. 2; pp. 93 - 111
Main Authors: Strayer, David L., Cooper, Joel M., Turrill, Jonna, Coleman, James R., Hopman, Rachel J.
Format: Article
Published: Canadian Psychological Association Jun2017
Subjects:
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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        atl: The Smartphone and the Driver's Cognitive Workload: A Comparison of Apple, Google, and Microsoft's Intelligent Personal Assistants.
      aug:
        au:
          Strayer, David L.
          Cooper, Joel M.
          Turrill, Jonna
          Coleman, James R.
          Hopman, Rachel J.
        affil: University of Utah
      su:
        Artificial intelligence
        Cognition
        Technology
        Task performance
        Automobile driving
        Experimental design
        User interfaces
        Video recording
        Human voice
        Distracted driving
        Smartphones
      sug:
        subj:
          Artificial intelligence
          Cognition
          Technology
          Task performance
          Automobile driving
          Experimental design
          User interfaces
          Video recording
          Human voice
          Distracted driving
          Smartphones
      keyword:
        cognitive distraction
        cognitive workload
        divided attention
        driving
        multitasking
        attention divisée
        charge de travail cognitive
        conduite
        distraction cognitive
        multitâches
        cognitive distraction
        cognitive workload
        divided attention
        driving
        multitasking
        attention divisée
        charge de travail cognitive
        conduite
        distraction cognitive
        multitâches
      ab: The goal of this research was to examine the impact of voice-based interactions using 3 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 2 experiments using an instrumented vehicle on suburban roadways, we 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 (DRT), and subjective mental workload. We 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. 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 Operation Span (OSPAN) task. The analysis also found residual costs associated using each of the smartphones that took a 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.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
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