L'amputation du membre supérieur, dont la prévalence est comparable à celle des maladies orphelines, induit chez les patients une perte considérable d'autonomie dans la majorité des tâches simples de la vie quotidienne. Pour pallier ces difficultés, les prothèses myoélectriques actuelles proposent une multitude de mouvements possibles. Cependant, leur contrôle non intuitif et lourd cognitivement requiert un apprentissage long et difficile, qui pousse une proportion importante de patients amputés à l'abandon de la prothèse. Dans cette thèse, nous avons cherché à identifier l'origine des difficultés et les manques du contrôle myoélectrique en comparaison au contrôle sensorimoteur naturel, dans le but à terme de proposer de meilleures solutions de restitution et de suppléance. Pour cela, nous avons manipulé diverses conditions expérimentales dans un contexte d'interface homme-machine simplifié où des sujets non amputés contrôlent un curseur sur un écran à partir de contractions isométriques, i.e. des contractions qui n'engendrent pas de mouvement. Cette condition isométrique nous a permis de nous approcher de la condition de la personne amputée contrôlant sa prothèse à partir de l'activité électrique (EMG) de ses muscles résiduels, en absence de mouvement articulaire. Durant une tâche d'atteinte de cible, nous avons entre autre démontré le bénéfice d'une adaptation conjointe du décodeur qui traduit les activités EMG en mouvement du curseur, venant s'ajouter à la propre adaptation du plan de mouvement des sujets en réponse à des perturbations orientées. De plus, il a été mis en évidence que ce bénéfice est d'autant plus important que la dynamique d'adaptation artificielle du décodeur s'inspire de celle de l'Homme. Dans des tâches d'acquisition et de poursuite de cible, impliquant davantage les mécanismes de régulation en ligne du mouvement, nous avons mis en évidence l'importance d'une congruence immédiate entre les informations sensorimotrices et la position du curseur à l'écran pour permettre des corrections rapides et efficaces. Dans une condition où le niveau de bruit du système est relativement faible, comme avec l'utilisation du signal de forces plus stable que l'habituel signal EMG, cette congruence explique, en partie, la supériorité d'un contrôle d'ordre 0 (i.e. position) sur un contrôle d'ordre 1 (i.e.} vitesse). Cependant, dès lors que le niveau de bruit est trop important, ce qui est le cas avec le signal EMG, le filtrage induit par l'intégration nécessaire au contrôle vitesse fait que celui-ci devient plus performant que le contrôle position. L'ensemble de ces résultats suggèrent qu'un décodeur adaptatif et intuitif, respectant et suppléant au mieux les boucles du contrôle sensorimoteur naturel, est le plus à même de faciliter le contrôle des futures prothèses. / Upper limb amputation, although quite rare, induces enormous loss of autonomy for patients in most daily life activities. To overcome this loss, current myoelectric prosthesis offers a multitude of possible movements. However, current controls of these movements are typically non-intuitive and cognitively demanding, leading to a high abandon rate in response to the long and tedious learning involved. In this thesis, we aimed at identifying difficulties and gaps associated with myoelectric controls when compared to natural sensorimotor control, with the long term goal of informing the design of better solutions for prosthesis control. To do so, we manipulated several experimental conditions in a simplified human-machine interface, where non-amputated subjects controlled a cursor on a computer screen from isometric contractions, i.e. muscle contractions produced in the absence of joint movement. This isometric condition was designed to get closer to a situation in which an amputee controls a myoelectric prosthesis using electrical activity (EMG) of his/her residual muscles, without movement of the missing limb. During aiming movements, we demonstrated the benefits of adapting the decoder that translate muscle activities into cursor movement in conjunction with the own subject’s adaptation of the planned movement direction in response to oriented perturbations. Furthermore, these benefits were showed to be even more important as the artificial decoder adaptation was inspired by the modeled adaptation of a human. In reaching and tracking movements toward fixed and moving targets, which increasingly involve online movement regulations, we revealed the importance of an immediate congruency between sensorimotor information and the cursor position on the screen for timely and efficient corrections. For conditions in which the level of noise associated with the control signal is relatively low, such as when using force that is more stable than the usual EMG signal used, this congruency partly explains the better performance obtained with zero order control (i.e. position) when compared to first order control (i.e. velocity). However, when the noise level increases, as is the case with EMG signals, the filtering property associated with the integration involved in a velocity control elicits better performances than with a position control. Taken together, these results suggest that intuitive and adaptive decoder, that supplies and judiciously complements natural sensorimotor feedback loops, is promising to facilitate future prosthesis controls.

Les constructeurs automobiles proposent un vaste éventail de fonctions secondaires à la conduite, en relation avec le GPS, la musique, ou encore la ventilation. L'ensemble de ces fonctions est centralisé sur un écran accessible au centre de l'habitacle, équipé d'une dalle tactile dans nombre de véhicules récents. Cependant, leur manipulation en conduite peut se révéler périlleuse : la sollicitation de la modalité visuelle pour interagir avec l'interface peut entraîner une baisse de vigilance vis-à-vis de la tâche de conduite, ce qui peut mener à des situations dangereuses. Au cours de cette thèse, fruit d'une collaboration entre le Groupe PSA et le laboratoire PRISM, nous nous sommes attachés à proposer une association de gestes et de sons comme alternative à une sollicitation visuelle. Le but est de proposer des interactions réalisables en aveugle, pour permettre au conducteur de focaliser ses yeux sur la route. Pour réaliser conjointement une manipulation de l'interface et une tâche de conduite, une sollicitation multisensorielle peut en effet permettre de faire baisser la charge mentale du conducteur, en comparaison à une situation unimodale visuelle. Pour que le lien entre les gestes et les sons paraisse naturel, un objet virtuel a été introduit, manipulable grâce à des gestes. Cet objet est le support des stratégies de sonification, par analogie aux sons de notre environnement, qui sont la conséquence d'une action sur un objet. L'objet virtuel permet également de structurer différents gestes autour d'une même métaphore, ou encore de redéfinir le menu d'une interface. La première partie de cette thèse est consacrée à la mise au point de stratégies de sonification pour transmettre des informations pertinentes sur la dynamique de l'objet virtuel. Deux expériences perceptives ont été mises en place, qui ont conduit à la discrimination de deux stratégies de sonification intéressantes. Dans une deuxième partie, nous avons œuvré à la mise en situation automobile par un travail sur les stimuli sonores, sur l'interface, et par l'étude de l'intégration multisensorielle. Un design des stratégies de sonification a été proposé pour permettre de se projeter dans une utilisation en véhicule. Par la suite, les évocations provoquées par le couplage des gestes et des sons ont été au centre d'une troisième expérience perceptive. Cette étude a été effectuée en aveugle, où le concept d'objet virtuel était inconnu et découvert progressivement par les sujets. Ces images mentales véhiculées par les stratégies de sonification peuvent en effet être utiles lors de la familiarisation des utilisateurs avec l'interface. Une quatrième expérience perceptive s'est concentrée sur la prise en main de l'objet virtuel, où l'intégration des stimuli visuels et auditifs a été étudiée, dans le contexte du maniement d'une interface. Les sujets ont été placés dans des conditions similaires à la découverte de l'interface en véhicule à l'arrêt, avec des stimuli audio-visuels ; puis à son utilisation en aveugle grâce aux stratégies de sonification. Les enseignements de ces expériences ont permis de bâtir une interface gestuelle, qui a été comparée à une interface tactile dans une dernière expérience perceptive réalisée en simulateur de conduite. Bien que les résultats montrent une utilisation plus performante de l'interface tactile, l'association des gestes et des sons semble intéressante du point de vue de la charge cognitive des conducteurs. L'interface gestuelle peut donc offrir une alternative prometteuse ou un complément aux interfaces tactiles pour une utilisation simultanée à la conduite en toute sécurité. / Car manufacturers offer a wide range of secondary driving controls, such as GPS, music, or ventilation, often localized on a central touch-sensitive screen. However, operating them while driving proves to be unsafe: engaging the sense of sight for interface interaction can lead to vigilance reduction towards the driving task, which can lead to high-risk situations. In this PhD thesis, which is a part of a collaborative research project involving both the PSA Group and the PRISM laboratory, we aim to provide a gesture and sound association as an alternative to the visual solicitation. The goal is to enable blind interface interactions, allowing the driver to focus their eyes on the road. When jointly performing interface manipulations and the driving task, a multisensory solicitation can lower the driver's cognitive load, in comparison with a visual unimodal situation. For the gesture-sound association to feel more natural, a virtual object that can be handled with gestures is introduced. This object is the support for sonification strategies, constructed by analogy with sounds from our environment, which are the consequence of an action on an object .The virtual object also allows to structure different gestures around the same metaphor, or to redefine the interface's menu. The first part of this thesis deals with the development of sonification strategies, with the aim to inform users about the virtual object dynamic. Two perceptual experiments were set up, which led to the discrimination of two valuable sonification strategies. In a second part, the automotive application was addressed by designing new sound stimuli, the interface, and by studying the multisensory integration. Sounds were proposed for each of the two sonification strategies, to progress towards an in-vehicle integration. The evocations brought by the gestures and sounds association were the subject of a third perceptive blinded experiment. The concepts around the virtual object were unknown and gradually discovered by the subjects. These mental images conveyed by the sonification strategies can help users familiarize with the interface. A fourth perceptual experiment focused on the virtual object handling for first-time users, where the integration of audio-visual stimuli was studied, in the context of an interface manipulation. The experiment conditions were similar to the driver first discovering of the interface in a parked vehicle thanks to audio-visual stimuli, and then operating it through sonification strategies only. The results of this experiment lead to the design of a gestural interface, which was compared with the results obtained with a touchscreen interface in a final perceptual experiment, carried out in a driving simulator. Although the results show better performances for the tactile interface, the combination of gestures and sounds proved to be effective from the cognitive load point of view. The gesture interface can therefore offer a promising alternative or complement to tactile interfaces for a safe simultaneous use in driving condition.

Le processus de conception des interfaces homme-machine poids-lourd a été adapté afin de répondre aux enjeux humains et sécuritaires. Il est désormais largement admis que la participation des utilisateurs dans le processus de conception est un apport précieux. Actuellement dans l'industrie, les utilisateurs sont principalement impliqués lors des étapes d'analyse et d'évaluation des concepts, ces derniers étant définis par des professionnels. Cependant, la littérature dans d'autres domaines rapporte des bénéfices d’une autre forme d’implication des utilisateurs : la conception participative. Dans ce processus de conception, les utilisateurs sont impliqués tout au long du développement des produits, et en particulier lors de la définition des concepts. La conception participative permettrait un meilleur accès aux besoins des utilisateurs, à leurs attentes, et à leurs connaissances tacites. Ce projet a pour objectif d’étudier comment le niveau d’implication des conducteurs dans le processus de conception impacte l’utilisabilité, la distraction et l'acceptation des interfaces homme-machine poids-lourd. Après une analyse préalable du contexte d'utilisation, trois processus de conception de tableaux de bord ont été menés en parallèle à l’aide d’un équipement tactile. Les résultats de ces trois processus, ayant des niveaux d’implication différents, ont été évalués et comparés dans une expérience sur simulateur de conduite. Les résultats ne permettent pas de démontrer qu’une conception participative a un impact significatif sur l’utilisabilité, la distraction et l’acceptation. Cette thèse se conclut par des recommandations aux praticiens et des perspectives de recherche. / The design process of trucks human-machine interfaces has been adapted to address human factors and road safety issues. It is now widely accepted that user involvement in the design process is valuable. Currently in industry, users are mainly involved in the stages of analysis and evaluation of concepts, the latter being defined by professionals. However, the literature in other fields reports benefits of a broader form of user involvement: participatory design. In this design process, users are involved all along products development, and particularly during concepts design. Participatory design would allow better access to users' needs, expectations, and tacit knowledge. The objective of this project is to study how the level of drivers’ involvement in the design process impacts the usability, distraction and acceptance of trucks human-machine interfaces. After a preliminary analysis of the context of use, three instrument cluster design processes were conducted in parallel using a tactile equipment. The outcomes of these three processes, differing in level of user involvement, were evaluated and compared in a driving simulator experiment. The results do not enable to demonstrate that participatory design has a significant impact on usability, distraction and acceptance. This thesis concludes with recommendations to practitioners and research perspectives.

Die Zunahme von Meldungen über Zwischenfälle in Kliniken und deren Ursachen werden in Wissenschaft und Gesellschaft diskutiert. Aus der Literatur lässt sich ableiten, dass die Mensch-Maschine-Schnittstelle Einfluss auf die Fehlerentstehung hat. Daher wird eine qualitative, standardisierte Befragung bei Anwendern von Medizingeräten durchgeführt. Die Ergebnisse der Untersuchung zeigen, dass anthropometrische Gestaltungsregeln bisher wenig beachtet werden und dass ergonomische Vorgaben bei der Gestaltung von Menüstrukturen nach wie vor Verzögerungen im klinischen Arbeitsfluss hervorrufen, worunter die Effizienz und besonders die Zufriedenheit der Mitarbeiter leidet.

Der Beitrag befasst sich mit einer ersten methodisch-systematischen Analyse der Biomorphisierung von Mensch-Maschine-Schnittstellen, also der Nutzung von biologischen Aktivitätsmustern für Signalkodierungen. Aufbauend auf Beispielen aus dem Alltag werden menschliche Eigenschaften, die sich zur Anthropomorphisierung und Biomorphisierung eignen, analysiert. Sodann werden geeignete Signalparameter zusammengestellt, die mit den technischen Ausgabemöglichkeiten und den dazugehörigen Signalen verbunden werden können. Beispielhaft wurde bei der Mensch-Maschine-Schnittstelle eines Geldautomaten eine Biomorphisierung deren Interaktionen vorgenommen. Ein Ausblick auf Folgeuntersuchungen, welche die Interaktionen evaluieren, schließt den Beitrag.

Neuroninė kompiuterio sąsaja – tai alternatyvus būdas valdyti kompiuterį nenaudojant rankų. Ji gali būti apibrėžta, kaip komunikavimo sistema, kuri leidžia valdyti kompiuterį ar kitą skaitmeninį įrenginį, naudojant nervinės kilmės fiziologinius signalus. Pagrindinė neuroninės kompiuterio sąsajos taikymo sritis yra neįgaliesiems skirti įrenginiai. Tai ne tik specifiniai įrenginiai, tokie, kaip galūnių protezai, tačiau ir kompiuteriai su papildoma aparatine ir programine įranga, kuri leidžia žmonėms, nevaldantiems rankų, valdyti kompiuterį. Taip pat išmanieji invalido vežimėliai, kuriuos galima vairuoti nenaudojant rankų judesių. Šiame darbe analizuojama neuroninė kompiuterio sąsaja, skirta vežimėlio tipo roboto valdymui. Pateikiama mūsų sukurta neuroninės kompiuterio sąsajos sistema, gebanti nuskaityti žmogaus EEG ir galvos raumenų EMG signalus, juos apdoroti, klasifikuoti ir jų pagalba valdyti vežimėlio tipo robotą. Taip pat pateikiamas trijų komandų vežimėlio tipo roboto valdymo per galvos paviršinio EMG signalo lygį metodas. Pateikiami roboto valdymo taikant šį metodą tikslumo eksperimentai ir jų rezultatai. / Neural computer interface is alternative way to control computer without hands. It is defined as a communication system which allows user control computer or any other digital device using neural breed physiological signal. The main application of neural computer interface is various devices for people with disabilities. For example, electronic prosthetic limbs, PC‘s with additional hardware and software which allows people with motor disabilities to control PC or intelligent wheelchairs. In this work we are analyzing neural computer interface applied for robot control. The author presents neural computer interface system which allows to read EEG and head surface EMG signals, pre-process the signals, classify the signals and control Arduino 4WD robot. We also propose approach to control robot with head surface EMG signal amplitude using 3 control commands. Robot control research using proposed approach is presented.

Current submerged science projects such as VENUS and NEPTUNE have revealed the need for small, low-cost and easily deployed underwater remotely operated vehiclemanipulator (ROVM) systems. Unfortunately, existing small remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROV) are not equipped to complete the complex and interactive submerged tasks required for these projects. Therefore, this thesis is aimed at adapting a popular small ROV into a ROVM that is capable of low-cost and time-efficient underwater manipulation. To realize this objective, the coordinated control of ROVM systems is required, which, in the context of this research, is defined as the collection of hardware and software that provides advanced functionalities to small ROVM systems. In light of this, the primary focus of this dissertation is to propose various technical building blocks that ultimately lead to the realization of such a coordinated control system for small ROVMs. To develop such a coordinated control of ROVM systems, it is proposed that ROV and manipulator motion be coordinated optimally and intelligently. With coordination, the system becomes redundant: there are more degrees of freedom (DOF) than required. Hence, the extra DOFs can be used to achieve secondary objectives in addition to the primary end-effector following task with a redundancy resolution scheme. This eliminates the standard practice of holding the ROV stationary during a task and uncovers significant potential in the small ROVM platform. In the proposed scheme, the ROV and manipulator motion is first coordinated such that singular configurations of the manipulator are avoided, and hence dexterous manipulation is ensured. This is done by using the ROV's mobility in an optimal, coordinated manner. Later, to accommodate a more comprehensive set of secondary objectives, a fuzzy based approach is proposed. The method considers the human pilot as the main operator and the fuzzy machine as an artificial assistant pilot that dynamically prioritizes the secondary objectives and then determines the optimal motion. Several model-based control methodologies are proposed for small ROV/ROVM systems to realize the desired motion produced by the redundancy resolution, including an adaptive sliding-mode control, an upper bound adaptive sliding-mode control with adaptive PID layer, and an H∞ sliding-mode control. For the unified system (redundancy resolution and controller), a new human-machine interface (HMI) is designed that can facilitate the coordinated control of ROVM systems. This HMI involves a 6-DOF parallel joystick, and a 3-D visual display and a graphical user interface (GUI) that enables a human pilot to smoothly interact with the ROVM systems. Hardware-in-theloop simulations are carried out to evaluate the performance of the coordination schemes. On the thrust allocation side, a novel fault-tolerant thrust allocation scheme is proposed to distribute forces and moments commanded by the controller over the thrusters. The method utilizes the redundancy in the thruster layout of ROVM systems. The proposed scheme minimizes the largest component of the thrust vector instead of the two-norm, and hence provides better manoeuvrability. In the first phase of implementation, a small inspection-class ROV, a Saab-Seaeye Falcon™ ROV, is adopted. To improve the navigation, a navigation skid is designed that contains a Doppler Velocity Log, a compass, an inertial measurement unit, and acoustic position data. The sensor data is blended using an Extended Kalman Filter. The developed ROV system uses the upper bound adaptive sliding-mode control with adaptive PID layer. The theoretical and practical results illustrate that the proposed tools can transform, a small, low-cost ROVM system into a highly capable, time-efficient system that can complete complex subsea tasks. / Graduate

CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeiÃoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior / FERNANDES, G. G. AvaliaÃÃo ergonÃmica da interface humano- computador de ambientes virtuais de aprendizagem 2008. 346 f. Tese (Doutorado em EducaÃÃo Brasileira) â Faculdade de EducaÃÃo da Universidade Federal do CearÃ. Fortaleza, 2008. Objetiva-se, em nÃvel macro, desenvolver modelo conceitual para avaliar a interface humano-computador (IHC), especificamente, a usabilidade e a funcionalidade de Ambientes Virtuais de Aprendizagem (AVA) para educaÃÃo a distÃncia (EaD). A partir daÃ, sÃo objetivos especÃficos: (1) avaliar a usabilidade de ambientes virtuais de educaÃÃo empregados na educaÃÃo a distÃncia; (2) analisar a funcionalidade de ambientes virtuais de educaÃÃo utilizados em educaÃÃo a distÃncia; (3) levantar parÃmetros para construir modelo conceitual de avaliaÃÃo de interfaces de ambientes virtuais de educaÃÃo para educaÃÃo a distÃncia. Em relaÃÃo à usabilidade, vÃrios atributos foram estudados na interface computacional, destacando-se facilidade de aprendizagem, eficiÃncia de uso, facilidade de memorizaÃÃo, baixas taxas de erro e satisfaÃÃo subjetiva. A funcionalidade, que engloba as camadas de programaÃÃo e da base de dados foi estudada levando em consideraÃÃo a consistÃncia dos dados produzidos no ambiente e a facilidade de adequaÃÃo à tarefa das principais funÃÃes, com Ãnfase nos mecanismos de comunicaÃÃo, de coordenaÃÃo, de interaÃÃo e de administraÃÃo de cursos. Para a construÃÃo do modelo, recorremos à ampla revisÃo bibliogrÃfica e à anÃlise geral da interface de diferentes ambientes computacionais. O modelo inicial contÃm dois mÃdulos. O primeiro, com 09 critÃrios e 45 atributos, destinado a profissionais da Ãrea de educaÃÃo. O segundo mÃdulo com 12 critÃrios e 60 atributos, aplicado a profissionais da Ãrea de computaÃÃo com prÃtica em atividades em EaD com conhecimento sobre os princÃpios de usabilidade de interfaces computacionais. No momento de sua validaÃÃo, o aplicamos em trÃs AVA: Moodle, Solar e e-ProInfo, utilizando como lista de verificaÃÃo a modalidade cheklist. Dentre os muitos resultados obtidos, chama a atenÃÃo a significativa vantagem para o Moodle, quando da avaliaÃÃo dos trÃs ambientes junto aos profissionais educadores, e do Solar, no caso dos profissionais de computaÃÃo com militÃncia na Ãrea de EaD, com nÃtida rejeiÃÃo dos dois segmentos estudados ante o e-ProInfo. Por fim, os dados obtidos e discutidos permitem inferir que, o modelo aplicado poderia ser refinado, o que foi feito. O modelo refinado proposto, baseado na anÃlise dos dados da pesquisa e nas observaÃÃes subjetivas dos agentes pesquisados contÃm dois mÃdulos cada um com 10 critÃrios e 50 atributos. / The objective of this work is to develop a conceptual model in order to evaluate the human-computer interface (HCI) on a macro level. More specifically, it aims to evaluate the usability and functionality of virtual learning environments (VLE) for distance education (DE). Therefore, the specific objectives are: (1) to evaluate the usability of virtual educational environments used in distance education; (2) to analyze the functionality of educational virtual environments used for distance education; (3) to define appropriate parameters to build a conceptual model for the evaluation of educational virtual environment interfaces for distance education. The usability is originated from cognitive science and at the beginning of the 80âs decade, it started to be related to psychology and ergonomics areas. It includes five attributes which contribute for a good computational interface: easy learning, efficient use, easy memorization, low error levels and subjective satisfaction. On the other side, functionality does not depend only on the interface layer, but also on the program layers and on data base, which are in charge of the experts. The modelâs construction was made based on a vast bibliographical review and on the general analysis of different computational environmental interfaces. In order to validate the proposed model, it was applied to three virtual learning environments (VLE): Moodle, Solar and e-ProInfo, using a checklist as a verification list. The first one contained 45 items addressed to education professionals. The second had 60 items applied to computational professionals with experience in distance education, and consequently, with knowledge about the usability principles of computational interfaces. The results show a remarkable advantage of Moodle environment among education professionals and Solar environment among computational professionals experienced in distance education. A clear rejection was observed for e-ProInfo among the two studied segments. Finally, the obtained data infer that, even though the proposed model is adequate to evaluate the VLE, it can be improved in order to be used by any higher education professional with experience on the application of digital technologies.

Technologien der erweiterten Realität (extended reality, XR) finden im gesamten Produktentwicklungsprozess Anwendung. Insbesondere Systeme zur aktiven Erzeugung und Veränderung digitaler Produktdaten bieten noch viel Potential. Die Erforschung und Entwicklung dieser immersiven Interfaces beruht maßgeblich auf der Evaluation durch Nutzerstudien, denn nur so kann die Einsatztauglichkeit der Mensch-Maschine-Schnittstellen seriös beurteilt und verglichen werden. Bei der Konzeptionierung und Durchführung dieser Nutzerstudien gibt es viel zu beachten. In dieser Arbeit wird ein Leitfaden für das Design von Evaluationen von XR Interfaces für die Produktentwicklung präsentiert. Zu Beginn müssen die Fragestellungen festgelegt werden, welche die Studie beantworten soll. Ausgehend von diesen müssen die zu testenden Versuchsbedingungen, die gestellten Aufgaben, die aufgenommen Metriken, die gewählten Probanden und der geplante Ablauf festgelegt werden. Zusätzlich zu der allgemeinen Darlegung wird das Vorgehen anhand eines Fallbeispiels angewandt. Die Gestaltung einer Nutzerstudie zur Evaluation der Usability und Eignung eines neuartigen Virtual Reality Interfaces zur natürlichen Gestaltung von Vorentwürfen wird vorgestellt.

As the desire for deploying automated (“driverless”) vehicles increases, there is a need to understand how they might communicate with other road users in a mixed traffic, urban, setting. In the absence of an active and responsible human controller in the driving seat, who might currently communicate with other road users in uncertain/conflicting situations, in the future, understanding a driverless car’s behaviour and intentions will need to be relayed via easily comprehensible, intuitive and universally intelligible means, perhaps presented externally via new vehicle interfaces. This paper reports on the results of a questionnaire-based study, delivered to 664 participants, recruited during live demonstrations of an Automated Road Transport Systems (ARTS; SAE Level 4), in three European cities. The questionnaire sought the views of pedestrians and cyclists, focussing on whether respondents felt safe interacting with ARTS in shared space, and also what externally presented travel behaviour information from the ARTS was important to them. Results showed that most pedestrians felt safer when the ARTS were travelling in designated lanes, rather than in shared space, and the majority believed they had priority over the ARTS, in the absence of such infrastructure. Regardless of lane demarcations, all respondents highlighted the importance of receiving some communication information about the behaviour of the ARTS, with acknowledgement of their detection by the vehicle being the most important message. There were no clear patterns across the respondents, regarding preference of modality for these external messages, with cultural and infrastructural differences thought to govern responses. Generally, however, conventional signals (lights and beeps) were preferred to text-based messages and spoken words. The results suggest that until these driverless vehicles are able to provide universally comprehensible externally presented information or messages during interaction with other road users, they are likely to contribute to confusing and conflicting interactions between these actors, especially in a shared space setting, which may, therefore, reduce efficient traffic flow.