Towards Inclusive External Human-Machine Interface: Exploring the Effects of Visual and Auditory eHMI for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing People

Xu, Wenge and Hajiseyedjavadi, Foroogh and Weir, Kurtis and Eze, Chukwuemeka and Colley, Mark (2026) Towards Inclusive External Human-Machine Interface: Exploring the Effects of Visual and Auditory eHMI for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing People. In: CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 13th-17th April 2026, Barcelona, Spain. (In Press)

Text _CR_CHI_Towards_Inclusive_External_Human_Machine_Interface-1.pdf - Accepted Version Restricted to Repository staff only Download (9MB) | Request a copy

Abstract

External Human-Machine Interfaces (eHMIs) have been proposed to facilitate communication between Automated Vehicles (AVs) and pedestrians. However, no attention was given to Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing (DHH) people. We conducted a formative study through focus groups with 6 DHH people and 6 key stakeholders (including researchers, assistive technologists, and automotive interface designers) to compare proposed eHMIs and extract key design requirements. Subsequently, we investigated the effects of visual and auditory eHMI in a virtual reality user study with 32 participants (16 DHH). Results from our scenario suggesting that (1) DHH participants spent more time looking at the AV; (2) both visual and auditory eHMIs enhanced trust, usefulness, and perceived safety; and (3) only visual eHMIs reduced the time to step into the road, time looking at the AV, gaze time, and percentage looking at active visual eHMI components. Lastly, we provided five practical implications for making eHMI inclusive of DHH people.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Dates:	Date Event 1 January 2026 Accepted
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:	05 Feb 2026 14:19
Last Modified:	05 Feb 2026 14:19
URI:	https://www.open-access.bcu.ac.uk/id/eprint/16835

Actions (login required)

View Item