12 June 2023
ARIEL, Israel — Researchers at Ariel University’s Department of Industrial Engineering & Management have made a breakthrough in stress measurement during driving tasks. The team has released a comprehensive study detailing the use of grip force on the steering wheel as a non-intrusive measure of driver stress, potentially paving the way for enhanced road safety systems.
The study’s aim was to map the various parameters affecting the relationship between grip force and stress during driving tasks. This innovative stress index, according to previous findings from the same team, requires a short time window of two to five seconds, making it an effective and user-friendly method.
“Reducing drivers’ stress can potentially increase road safety. State-of-the-art physiological stress indices are intrusive and limited by long time lags. Our approach of measuring grip force offers a transparent solution to the user and operates within a brief time window,” said Prof. Shraga Shoval one of the authors of the study.
The research involved two stressors: the driving mode and the distance from the vehicle to a crossing pedestrian. Thirty-nine participants performed driving tasks during either remote driving or simulated driving, with a pedestrian dummy unexpectedly crossing the road at two distances. The researchers then measured the grip force on the steering wheel and the skin conductance response.
The findings from the study will help in the development of car safety systems that incorporate continuous measurements of stress. They provide a comprehensive guide for researchers and professionals to use grip force for the purpose of measuring stress in a non-intrusive manner and with relatively short latencies.
The study was funded by the Israeli Innovation Authority through the Andromeda consortium.