Advanced Information Input Device via Steering Wheel using Cable Type Vibration Sensor

In recent years, automobiles have been equipped with many sensors, and services provided processing the data acquired from the sensors have become more diverse and sophisticated. As services become more sophisticated, the interaction between vehicle and human driver becomes increasingly important. In this paper, we have developed an interface that allows users to input advanced information without causing visual and audible collisions while driving. The interface has a cable type vibration sensor attached to edge of steering wheel, and identifies actions for the steering wheel with different length and strength. By using the interface, driver can input advanced information based on combination of the actions. Through experiments with regard to input of Japanese syllabary and numbers using Morse code and the proposed character code, it is confirmed that their input success rates are almost unchanged and proposed method outperforms Morse code because it requires less number of input.