Exploring the Impacts of Background Noise on Auditory Stimuli of Audio-Visual eHMIs for Hearing, Deaf, and Hard-of-Hearing People

Xu, Wenge and Hajiseyedjavadi, Foroogh and Dey, Debargha and Tran, Tram Thi Minh and Colley, Mark (2026) Exploring the Impacts of Background Noise on Auditory Stimuli of Audio-Visual eHMIs for Hearing, Deaf, and Hard-of-Hearing People. In: CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 13th-17th April 2026, Barcelona, Spain.

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Abstract

External Human-Machine Interfaces (eHMIs) have been proposed to enhance communication betmodal designs such as audio-visual eHMIs. Just as poor lighting can impair visual cues, a loud background noise may mask the auditory stimuli. However, its effectween automated vehicles (AVs) and pedestrians, with growing interest in multi-s within these systems have not been examined, and little is known about how pedestriantss --- particularly Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing (DHH) people --- perceive different types of auditory stimuli. We conducted a virtual reality study (Hearing N=25, DHH N=11) to examine the effects of background noise (quiet and loud) on auditory stimuli (baseline, bell, speech) within an audio-visual eHMI. Results revealed that: (1) Crossing experiences of DHH pedestrians significantly differ from Hearing pedestrians. (2) Loud background noise adversely affects pedestrians' crossing experiences. (3) Providing an additional auditory eHMI (bell/speech) improves crossing experiences. We outlined four practical implications for future eHMI design and research.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Identification Number:	10.1145/3772318.3791557
Dates:	Date Event 1 January 2026 Accepted 17 April 2026 Published Online
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Deaf, Hard-of-Hearing, External Human-Machine Interface, Automated Vehicles, Accessibility.
Subjects:	CAH11 - computing > CAH11-01 - computing > CAH11-01-01 - computer science
Divisions:	Architecture, Built Environment, Computing and Engineering > Computer Science
Depositing User:	Gemma Tonks
Date Deposited:	29 Jan 2026 17:15
Last Modified:	29 Jan 2026 17:15
URI:	https://www.open-access.bcu.ac.uk/id/eprint/16828

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