Re-inventing the daily commute: Exploring space usage and interior design requirements to support non-driving related tasks in autonomous vehicles

Autonomous Vehicles (AV) potentially change the journey experience allowing occupants to partake in Non-Driving Related Tasks (NDRTs) such as using electronic devices. To support human centred design, it is important to understand types of NDRTs and consider ergonomic interior vehicle layouts to optimise carrying out such activities. An exploratory study was conducted using a vehicle buck: data on seat position, discomfort, posture, and observations of both space use and NDRTs were collected. Participants (n=16) took part in three simulated commutes with different car interior scenarios, allowing for various levels of space availability and design features (e.g. laptop table, armrest). Using laptops, phones and tablets were the most frequent activities followed by reading and sleeping. Overall discomfort levels were low for all scenarios, but head/neck, upper back and lower back discomfort were lower in the co-designed scenario where participants had both flexibility of space usage and additional design features. A high frequency of neck flexion was observed but was lower in the co-designed scenario for postures held over ten minutes; this was partly mitigated by the design features. This research explores the in-vehicle space usage of occupants in AVs to guide and evidence future design decisions for supporting NDRTs.