Rice University has experts available to discuss the latest developments in autonomous vehicles, including Waymo’s recent testing in Houston and growing national conversations about the safety and behavior of driverless cars.
Patricia DeLucia, professor of psychological sciences and associate dean for research in Rice’s School of Social Sciences, studies human perception of collision with human factors applications to transportation, including manual and automated driving. She can speak to how humans perceive roadway hazards, how automated systems differ from human judgment and what these differences mean for safety and design in autonomous vehicles.
“When designing autonomous vehicles, it is important to consider the perceptual, cognitive and motor abilities that people have so that transportation will be safe for all road users,” said DeLucia.
Jing Chen, associate professor of psychological sciences, specializes in human factors and human-automation interaction, including trust, monitoring and decision-making with automated systems. Her research offers insight into public perception, safety considerations and how people adapt to emerging technologies such as autonomous vehicles and uncrewed aerial systems.
“While some data suggest that Waymo may be safer than average human drivers due to its High-Definition maps and behavior prediction, it is not yet fully reliable, Chen said. “The dynamic complexity and unpredictable edge cases of a city like Houston constantly push the boundaries of its Operational Design Domain, meaning full autonomy still rests on safely resolving those low-frequency yet safety-critical events.”
Both experts recently commented on Waymo’s early testing phase in Houston as the company prepares for potential driverless service in the region.
To schedule an interview, contact: Kat Cosley Trigg at Kat.Cosley.Trigg@rice.edu.