SMALLCAR – A Scaled Model for Ambient Light Display Creation and Review of In-Vehicle Light Patterns

In recent years, researchers have created different systems aimed at supporting a drivers' decision-making process without creating additional distractions. Various approaches use in-car ambient light displays to convey information or offer suggestions about traffic situations. Developers of such systems often use lo-fi prototypes, such as paper sketches, or hi-fi prototypes, such as integrated light displays, to discuss and test ideas. Between lo-fi and hi-fi, we propose the use of a downscaled car equipped with a light display as a prototype. This can be used to easily create and evaluate in-vehicle light patterns and thus supports their design process. In this work, we present our working prototype and results of two user tests: the first one with developers during design exploration and the second one with a group of drivers evaluating given light patterns. Our results indicate that the prototype helps to better understand and discuss light patterns.