There are many technical and practical challenges that need to be solved to ensure efficient and safe automation of road vehicles such as cars and trucks. Remote operation, which allows a human operator to support and even drive an automated vehicle from a distance, has been proposed as a solution to some of these challenges. In this session, we will give an overview of the field of remote operation as such and deep dive into the use of sound as a potential improvement to the current predominantly visual remote operator interfaces. We will try to answer what types of sounds and auditory displays will be helpful for the operator, how these should be designed and how they might be integrated into the operator interface. Furthermore, we will give examples of studies that show that when designed properly, auditory displays can have measurable positive effects such as lowered cognitive load, improved speed regulation performance and increased situational awareness.
