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A human approach to designing future cities and intelligent cars

The arrival of autonomous vehicles in our society will significantly change the way we travel. But should we, and our cities, adapt to new urban mobility or can technology be tailored for us? A new Drive Sweden project hosted by Halmstad University combines experimental prototyping and testing of intelligent services for urban development and autonomous vehicles, with participatory and human centred research. The goal is to establish new ways of developing modern vehicles and smart cities for a sustainable social environment.

Hands from two different people gesturing over schematics on a table.

About the AHA research project

Co-designing future smart urban mobility services—a human approach (AHA) is a Drive Sweden project. Drive Sweden is a Strategic Innovation Program funded by VINNOVA (the Swedish Innovation Agency), the Swedish Research Council Formas and the Swedish Energy Agency. AHA is a proof-of-concept project to tailor and demonstrate a design ethnographic methodology that combines experimental prototyping and testing of intelligent services for urban development and autonomous vehicles, with participatory and human centred research. As part of the project, four workshops with technology designers, urban planners, citizens and social researchers are organised. The first workshop took place in October, the second and third workshops will take place in February and the fourth in April/May. The project will end with a round table discussion within the Drive Sweden outreach program. The project runs between April 2018 and June 2019.

The part of the project team that is based at the Department of Intelligent Systems and Digital Design at the School of Information Technology, Halmstad University includes:

  • Robert Broström, Adjunct Professor from Volvo Cars
  • Rachel Charlotte Smith, Guest researcher from Aarhus University, Denmark
  • Vaike Fors, Associate Professor, Halmstad University
  • Mareike Glöss, Post Doc, Halmstad University
  • Tomas Lindgren, Volvo Cars industrial PhD student in Informatics at Halmstad University
  • Jesper Lund, Assistant Professor, Halmstad University
  • Katalin Osz, Post Doc, Halmstad University/ Volvo Cars
  • Sarah Pink, Guest Professor from Monash University, Australia
  • Kaspar Raats, Volvo Cars industrial PhD student in Informatics at Halmstad University

Project leaders:

  • Suzanne Andersson, strategic infrastructure planner, Gothenburg City
  • Susanne Duval, strategic infrastructure planner, Helsingborg City
  • Vaike Fors, Associate Professor, Halmstad University
  • Patrik Palo, Senior UX strategy advisor, Volvo Cars

Publications on the subject

Osz, K., Raats, K., Fors, V., Pink, S. & Lindgren, T. (2018). Combining WOz testing and ride along video ethnographies: advancing methodologies for Autonomous Driving car development for mixed traffic environments. Accepted paper for the OzCHI2018, 5th-7th December, 2018, Melbourne Australia.

Lindgren, T., Fors, V., Pink, S., Bergquist, M., & Berg, M. (2018). On the route to Anticipated Car UX. NordiCHI conference, October 1-3, 2018, Oslo, Norway.

Pink, S., V. Fors and M. Glöss (2018) The contingent futures of the mobile present: beyond automation as innovation External link, opens in new window. , Mobilities. 2018.

Pink, S., Fors, V., Glöss, M. (2017). Automated futures and the mobile present: In-car video ethnographies. Ethnography.

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