A review of state-of-the-art bicycle technologies affecting cycling safety: level of smartness and technology readiness.
Abstract: New technologies are gaining ground in various disciplines, and road safety is not an exception. The objective of this paper is twofold: (1) to review the state-of-the-art technologies implemented in bicycles to improve cyclists’ safety, and (2) to propose a classification for the levels of smartness of emerging “smart bikes”. This paper defines six levels of smartness for bicycles based on their functionality and evaluates the Technology Readiness Levels of bicycle technologies. Furthermore, areas for future research were identified and discussed. To achieve these, we conducted a literature review which employed two academic databases –Scopus and Web of Science– and the Google Scholar search engine, following the framework of the systematic literature review methodology for the search and selection process. A total of 36 studies that met the inclusion criteria were investigated. The majority of these studies focus on warning systems aiming to forestall an imminent collision, mostly by using accelerometers/gyroscopes, LIDAR, sensors and networking communication. These systems, despite their preliminary state, demonstrate a positive effect on cyclists’ safety. The review concludes that there is a need for further deployment and testing of such systems with field trials to gain concrete evidence regarding their impact on cyclists’ safety. It also highlights that advanced technologies are scarcely implemented in bicycles and that most smart bicycle systems are based on smartphones. Thus, the question is: what lies in the future of smart bicycles from today’s perspective?
Empathy building by feeling present with riders at a distance
Can designers actually sense what cyclists feel? Ask SCB researchers Mario and Wo
Digital Twins are becoming commonplace in some industries but are not well integrated yet in the cycling industries, despite promising potential. Existing user research methods hamper the realization of Digital Twins, therefore in this paper, a new method is conceptualized. The conceptual method consists of capturing experiences and feeding this experiential data into a Digital Twin, which designers can use to empathize with bicycle riders at a distance. Building on novel measurement methods and a virtual representation of a physical experience, the aim of the method is to investigate whether such a Digital Twin helps designers to build empathy with end-users. For the capturing of experiences part, ideation and prototyping were conducted using a wearable wristband which can measure physiological variables. For the Digital Twin part, a concept was developed. The next steps are to feed the captured data into a Digital Twin, and to develop a sensory actuation system. The latter will be needed to stimulate the senses of designers, so that they can get closer to the experiences of the users they work for and thereby increase the chance that their designs meet user needs.
EXPLORING THE POTENTIAL OF FNIRS IN CAPTURING SUBJECTIVE CYCLING EXPERIENCES
Despite proven environmental, economical, and health benefits, cycling participation remains low in many developed countries. Subjective experiences have been identified as a key deterrents to cycling participation; unpleasant weather conditions and sense of unease from exposure to motorised traffic are commonly reported factors (Sanders & Judelman, 2018; Useche et al., 2019). This study investigated the potential of functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to capture and enable understanding of subjective experiences while cycling, and discussed its implications for enhancing cycling participation. fNIRS is a type of non-invasive neural imaging sensor that measures changes in blood oxygenation levels in the brain to infer neural activity. Its portability and relative ease of setup make it particularly suitable for studying cycling in real-world conditions. This study stands out in its novelty as it is the first to employ fNIRS to explore subjective experiences within the context of cycling. Acknowledging the complex nature of experience, the present study employed a mixed methods approach, combining quantitative fNIRS data with subjective on-ride self-reports. Sensor data is neccessary as self-reports are prone to biases. For simplicity, subjective experiences were simplified to positive and negative emotions, commonly referred to as valence in psychology. Existing literature on the neural correlates of valence highlights the significance of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) (Lindquist & Barrett, 2012; Machado & Cantilino, 2016), which leads to the following hypotheses: Both positive and negative valence are associated with heightened activity throughout the PFC; positive valence in particular corresponds to further increased activity in the left PFC and reduced activity in the right PFC.