Methods and practices of affective ambient light design in cars

Abstract

The development of vehicle technologies open up new opportunities to satisfy the user’s affective expectation towards the new vehicle. Therefore, ambient light become essential for the design element to satisfy affective experiences. However, previous methodological exploration and empirical verifications have been limited compared to the high interest in affective ambient light for autonomous cars. In this dissertation, we propose theoretical and practical values by applying the method for designers during user-centered design process to design affective ambient light for the autonomous car. First, two studies were performed to understand the affective roles of ambient light. Numerous focus group interviews were conducted to define the affective role of the future autonomous vehicle interior space as eight: focused, stimulating, amused, open, safe, portable, accommodated, and organized. The interview questions were constructed by adding adjectives related to the affective role of light to the derived affective roles of ambient light in the car. As a result, the affective ambient light roles were narrowed down into four roles: prefer, bright, soft, and unique. Second, we present ambient light design guidelines with ambient light attributes in-vehicle driven above. Three additional experimental studies were added to define the dynamics on the colors, type of dynamics, and speed. We present ABCDE approach to explain the adjustment of the affective effect delivered to users by adjusting the arrangement, brightness, color, and dynamics of ambient light for the design of autonomous car. Third, we present two design methods to explore and evaluate the affective lighting design using virtual and augmented reality technologies for the designers. The first design method aims to explore light design via a virtual reality device. Virtual reality has been confirmed to fully support designers in immersing themselves in the design space. The second design method is to use augmented reality technology via a projector. It has been confirmed that augmented reality is an appropriate communication tool for designers’ light design. In addition, it was confirmed that the derived system could be applied to the practical design process, specifically in automobile companies’ design teams. This dissertation dealt with the affective light design method of autonomous cars, presented affective roles, light knowledge systems for achieving user-centered light design, and prototype methods for ambient light design. It has been confirmed that the derived evidence and methods can support the design of user-centered affective ambient light to convey a satisfactory user experience.