[Hatman]

How to get people to trust autonomous cars: Humanize them.

The Psychology Of Anthropomorphic Robots

http://www.fastcodesign.com/3031825/...morphic-robots

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Trusting the car to drive safely is among the biggest hurdles to the ascent of the autonomous car. It's an odd fear, considering how terrible human drivers are, but a natural one. I can attest first-hand that anxiety melts away when you actually ride in Google's self-driving car. But making consumers comfortable enough for a test drive (test ride?) will be a challenge for car makers preparing for that not-so-distant day when driverless cars hit the showroom.

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The work of Waytz and colleagues suggests that simple anthropomorphic design elements might do the trick. In one recent study, the researchers recruited 100 test participants to operate a driving simulator through two courses. Some drove a normal manual simulator. Some operated a semi-autonomous simulator capable of controlling its own speed and its steering. Some operated a semi-autonomous car with a name (Iris), a gender (female), and a voice (pre-recorded human audio files).

Not only did test participants humanize Iris--they rated her as smarter and more capable of feeling, anticipating, and planning than the other simulators--they also trusted her more. In self-reports, participants operating Iris said they felt safer in the car and more willing to give up control, compared to those in the normal simulator. Their bodies confirmed the feeling: Heart-rate monitors displayed a lower change in arousal for Iris drivers, compared to both other simulator groups.
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