Autonomous Vehicle Dispatch for Hearing-Impaired Remote Communication
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Solution Overview
Problem
Hearing-impaired passengers in autonomous vehicles face challenges in understanding guidance and communicating with remote operators due to the reliance on verbal communication, leading to increased anxiety and burden.
Innovation Solution
An operation management system that identifies hearing-impaired passengers and assigns vehicles equipped with either sign language communication devices or alternative writing devices to ensure effective communication with remote operators capable of sign language.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If verbal communication is used for remote monitoring and guidance in autonomous vehicles, then communication efficiency is improved, but accessibility for hearing-impaired passengers deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adapts communication methods based on passenger attributes. When a hearing-impaired passenger is detected through reservation data, the system automatically switches from verbal communication to written communication mode, allowing flexible adaptation to different user needs while maintaining operational efficiency
Solution Approach 2:
The communication parameter is changed from verbal to written form based on the passenger's hearing ability. The operation management apparatus modifies the communication mode parameter according to the detected attribute of the reservation holder, enabling effective communication with hearing-impaired passengers
2Device complexity
If standard autonomous vehicles without special equipment are dispatched, then operational simplicity is maintained, but communication effectiveness for hearing-impaired passengers deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary identification of hearing-impaired passengers through reservation data before vehicle dispatch. This advance detection allows the operation management apparatus to pre-arrange appropriate communication methods and select suitable vehicles, ensuring communication effectiveness is established before the passenger boards
Solution Approach 2:
The operation management apparatus acts as an intermediary between the passenger's needs and the vehicle dispatch system. It receives reservation data, identifies hearing-impaired passengers, and mediates the selection of appropriate vehicles or communication arrangements, ensuring effective communication without requiring complex modifications to standard vehicles
3Ease of operation
If hearing-impaired passengers cannot understand guidance or communicate with remote operators, then operational procedures remain standard, but passenger anxiety increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system establishes a feedback loop where the operation management apparatus continuously monitors communication effectiveness with hearing-impaired passengers. By detecting passenger attributes from reservation data and adapting communication methods accordingly, the system ensures that guidance and instructions are effectively received, reducing passenger anxiety through confirmed understanding
Data Source
AI summary
An operation management apparatus operates a plurality of vehicles by autonomous driving. The operation management apparatus includes a controller configured to determine, upon identifying that a reservation holder who has reserved a route on which a plurality of vehicles are operated is a hearing-impaired person, based on reservation data including an attribute of the reservation holder, whether there is a sign language operator capable of sign language among one or more remote operators who perform remote monitoring operations for each vehicle, based on operator data including an attribute of each of the one or more remote operators, and select, according to a result of determination, a dispatch vehicle to dispatch to the route reserved by the reservation holder, from among the plurality of vehicles.