The effects of using a Virtual Agent to Signal Danger on Hazard Prediction ability in Conditionally-Automated Driving

Conditionally-automated vehicles require drivers to remain hazard-aware while disengaged from driving and engaged in non-driving related tasks (NDRTs), yet conventional visual warning interfaces do not fully address this attentional conflict. While psychological research demonstrates social cues are processed more efficiently than visual information, this has not been evaluated for safety-critical warnings in conditionally-automated driving. This paper presents the first empirical investigation into using a virtual agent to indicate danger and aid situational awareness while driver perform a NDRT. Across two experiments, hazard prediction ability was assessed with either a visual cue or virtual agent cueing danger. When including an attention-capturing element, both visual and social cue types mitigated driver distraction, maintaining hazard prediction comparable with undistracted driving. These findings demonstrate that virtual agents can be as effective as conventional visual cues in aiding situational awareness in safety-critical conditionally-automated driving contexts, offering design insights for in-vehicle attentional displays supporting driver awareness.