Abstract
The purpose of this study was to identify the potential problems of an in-vehicle speech interaction system called Talking Car by using risk assessment techniques. In this study, 16 participants took part in a driving simulation experiment and were asked to complete the assigned tasks by controlling the Talking Car system while driving. The participants also had to answer a subjective questionnaire and sit for an interview after the experiment. By conducting the experiment, the failure modes, incorrect operations, failure causes, and effects were observed and collected. Then, a modified failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) method which took human operation into account was used to determine and analyze these failure modes and incorrect operations. After completing the analysis, the risk priority number (RPN) was computed to detect which failure had a significant effect on driving safety. RPNs and subjective questionnaires indicated that “System Dialogue with Elicitation,” “Control Button on Steering Wheel,” and “Partial System Interface” urgently need improvement. This study revealed significant deficiencies in the current Talking Car system. Additionally, the results also revealed that the modified FMEA method was feasible and can be proposed as a systematic technique to assess the task of controlling in-vehicle speech interaction systems while driving. Furthermore, recommendations to address the design problems of the Talking Car system are presented to facilitate driving safety.