AAA CENTER FOR DRIVING SAFETY & TECHNOLOGY

Transcription

1 AAA CENTER FOR DRIVING SAFETY & TECHNOLOGY 2017 FORD MUSTANG PREMIUM CONVERTIBLE INFOTAINMENT SYSTEM* DEMAND RATING Very High Demand The Ford Mstang Convertible s SYNC 3 (version 2.20) infotainment system received an overall very high demand rating largely de to task inefficiencies. Drivers experienced the highest levels of visal (eyes-offroad) demand when sing the texting featre. Optional Standard Android Ato Apple Car Play Mobile App Spport Text Messaging Navigation Toch Screen Gestre Control Heads-Up Display Voice Commands Console Control Optional and Standard Featres in the 2017 Ford Mstang V6 Additional trim levels available EcoBoost EcoBoost Convertible WEAKNESSES ABOUT THE STUDY Researchers evalated 30 new 2017 vehicles infotainment systems* to measre overall demand** placed on a driver when sing voice command, toch screen and other interactive technologies to make a call, send a text message, tne the radio or program navigation, all while driving down the road. STRENHS Placing a call sing voice or the toch screen is qick and efficient. The voice system nderstands natral speech and provides on-screen voice command help. Using voice commands for text messaging featres reqires very high levels of visal (eyes-off-road) demand on drivers. Tasks took drivers approximately 34 seconds on average to complete. The dial pad and fll phonebook are accessible via the toch screen while the vehicle is moving. Searching for points of interest in the navigation system took 55 seconds on average. * Infotainment System: Vehicle system that combines entertainment and information content **Overall demand measred: visal (eyes-off road), cognitive (mental) and time-on-task Compared to a recommended maximm of 24 seconds Navigating throgh the center stack mens reqires high cognitive (mental) demand, making it difficlt to se.

2 VEHICLE OVERVIEW: CONTROLS AND DISPLAYS VOICE COMMANDS STEERING WHEEL COMMANDS INSTRUMENT CLUSTER CENTER STACK

3 INFOTAINMENT SYSTEM The SYNC 3 infotainment system offers the following featres: CALLING AND DIALING Drivers can pair a phone with the infotainment system to access phone calls, text messaging, Android Ato and Apple CarPlay. Pairing a phone is a simple and intitive process. Once a phone is connected via Bletooth, drivers can call from a contact list and dial phone nmbers sing voice commands or the center stack. The Ford Mstang s calling and dialing system was easy to se and generated overall moderate demand among drivers in the stdy. The steering wheel bttons allow drivers to answer and end calls. Reslts from the on-road stdy showed that while se of the center stack generated very high visal (eyes-off-road) demand, interaction times were relatively brief. However, both the dial pad and fll phonebook are accessible via the toch screen while the vehicle is moving, which researchers^ noted may prolong the amont of time a driver s visal attention is away from the roadway. Among the strengths of the calling and dialing fnctionality is the phone widget on the center stack display s home screen. The large phone widget presents an overview of data related to the paired phone, sch as the nmber of nread messages. The widget also fnctions as a btton, giving drivers qick access to the phone men. The voice system is efficient at placing calls and allows drivers to keep their eyes on the road. Additionally, the voice system accepts and can swiftly process a wide range of intitive calling-related voice commands. TEXT MESSAGING With a phone paired, drivers can receive messages and send replies sing voice commands or the center stack. Access to text messaging fnctions varies depending on the type of phone connected. For instance, iphone sers can only access messages that are received while driving, whereas an Android allows drivers to access all text messages in their inbox. To reply to a message sing either the Android or the iphone, drivers can choose from 15 predefined responses sing either voice commands or the center stack. While the vehicle is in motion, toch screen interactions are restricted to only listening to messages, and drivers mst reply sing voice commands. The Ford Mstang s text messaging capabilities generated overall high demand on drivers. While driving, the system reads text messages alod and does not display them on the toch screen. Selecting a message for reply is difficlt and can be very time-consming when sing voice commands. The system displays a list of potential replies on the toch screen from which drivers select a response throgh voice or toch. On-road stdy reslts showed that sing the toch screen to complete texting tasks took approximately 11 seconds on average bt reqired a high level of visal (eyes-off-road) demand. Researchers^ did find voice commands for replying to a message to be intitive, as the system reads only the body of a selected text message alod withot less important details, sch as date and time of the received message. Of note is that the system does not decrease the volme of adio entertainment playing simltaneosly, which is a design oversight. ^ Researchers with expertise abot how hmans interact with technology evalated the sability of the infotainment system in stationary vehicles. Compared to a recommended maximm of 24 seconds according to the federal government

4 INFOTAINMENT SYSTEM AUDIO ENTERTAINMENT The SYNC 3 adio entertainment system incldes: AM, FM and XM radio; CD player and USB port; Bletooth adio; Apple CarPlay; and Android Ato. The system allows drivers to stream msic from a variety of applications, if installed, on a connected phone. While the vehicle is in motion, drivers can access adio entertainment sing voice commands, steering wheel bttons and the center stack. Reslts of the on-road stdy showed that accessing common adio entertainment fnctions sing the toch screen was difficlt and distracting, and cased very high levels of cognitive (mental) and visal (eyes-off-road) demand. Conversely, voice commands generated mostly overall moderate demand as sing voice reqired higher cognitive (mental) demand, bt moderate visal (eyes-off-road) demand. Voice command interaction times were shorter when compared to toch screen interaction times. The voice recognition system in this vehicle performed well when initiating entertainment tasks sch as changing stations or choosing msic selections. Notably, drivers were able to se conversational commands and did not have to memorize a set of system-specific phrases. While the system does provide on-screen prompts, drivers were still able to keep their eyes on the forward roadway. Unlike the texting fnctions, prompts on the toch screen that were related to entertainment tasks were easy to read and helpfl for task completion. Of note were the very high levels of visal (eyes-off-road) demand associated with completing entertainment tasks sing the toch screen display. While the toch screen s adio men has a simple and straightforward layot, bttons are sometimes difficlt to accrately press de to their smaller size, and the men strctre is more complex than it needs to be. TURN-BY-TURN NAVIGATION SYSTEM The navigation system provides trn-by-trn directions to addresses and points of interest. Drivers can access trnby-trn navigation sing voice commands or the center stack. While the vehicle is in motion, the toch screen restricts drivers from accessing the system s fll men of categories. However, drivers fond the men made available to be complex and time-consming. The on-road testing of the navigation system fond that destination entry was difficlt and placed very high overall demand on a driver. Specifically, whether accessing via voice or toch screen, the system reqired high cognitive (mental) focs and reqired drivers to take their eyes off the road for a significant amont of time. Accessing the navigation system sing voice commands took 55 seconds on average to search for points of interest. While the system recognizes natral speech with accracy and gides the ser effectively, the system can only process small bits of information at once, reslting in a mlti-step process, which may lengthen the time reqired to complete a task. If the voice system is activated within the navigation men, sggested navigation-related commands are displayed on the toch screen as a visal aid. The dense btton layot and mted color scheme have the potential to prolong the time reqired for drivers to search throgh the extensive nmber of categories on the toch screen. Lastly, the list of poplar destinations in the shortcts bar cannot be sorted, making it difficlt to find the desired destination. Compared to a recommended maximm of 24 seconds according to the federal government

5 VEHICLE CONTROLS AND DISPLAYS VOICE COMMANDS The Mstang incldes a voice system that allows drivers to access calling and dialing, text messaging, adio entertainment and trn-by-trn navigation via voice commands. The voice system is activated sing the voice recognition btton on the steering wheel. An atomated female voice provides drivers with step-by-step gidance on how to se the voice system, sch as offering sggested commands and indicating when to speak. INSTRUMENT CLUSTER The Mstang s instrment clster behind the steering wheel featres a 4.2-inch fll-color LCD display, accessible via steering wheel bttons. The display is srronded by familiar analog dials and gages. STEERING WHEEL CONTROLS The steering wheel contains 20 bttons that give access to the clster display, adio entertainment, crise control, phone and the voice recognition system. CENTER STACK The center stack featres an 8-inch fll-color LCD toch screen, controlled by five bttons and two dials located below it. Frther down the center stack, an additional clster of bttons controls the vehicle s climate. VEHICLE SALES SUMMARY The 2017 Ford Mstang is the 51st best-selling vehicle in the United States, with 105,932 Mstangs sold dring Sorce: Atomotive News at atonews.com; Wall Street Jornal at wsj.com data pdated to 2/25/2017.