Posted on July 31, 2014 at. July 31, 2014 by Drea Fekety

Dr. Jacques Terken of the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) hosted a very interesting tour of the TU/e campus and the Industrial Design Department during our day-trip to Eindhoven a few weeks ago.

Much of the research we were shown had to do with the study of peripheral interaction, which incorporates elements from the fields of HCI, HF/E, and Industrial Engineering.

We were first shown the department’s five-screen driving simulator, and we were given a chance to drive it ourselves. What set this simulator apart from others I’ve seen, though, is that they used a digital projector (behind the driver’s head) to display information ‘on top of’ the driving environment. This feature had been used to display information about the road ahead to a driver whose view is blocked by a freight truck in front of them. I think it’s a really innovative way of addressing problems with limited driver visibility.

We were also shown a demonstration of a blending of driving/commuting and social networking. Using hand gestures drivers in the simulation would be able to select and “Like” something about their driving environment, whether it be a cool car they saw, a place they drove past, or any number of other things someone might encounter in traffic. This was really interesting to me, and was the highlight of my trip to TU/e.

Big thanks to Jacques Terken, Saskia Bakker, Hanneke Hooft van Huysduynen, and Chao Wang for showing us around and sharing your work!