SHAPE-IT research was quite diverse, addressing many different facets of the design and development of AVs. Here a short overview of aspects relevant to policymaking is provided. For details about the contribution to other domains than policymaking, see the many peer-reviewed publications and deliverables produced in SHAPE-IT (
https://www.shape-it.eu/dissemination/(opens in new window)).
1. There are several terms and concepts in the domain of automated vehicle (AV) development, use, and assessment with no agreed-upon definition. SHAPE-IT contributes to the refinement of definitions of comfort, transparency, and acceptance of AV HMIs to foster cohesive communication across stakeholders.
2. As AVs approach the level of safety that policymakers seek to promote AV adoption, the factors of transparency, acceptance, and trust (including perceived safety) become crucial for influencing the willingness to pay for AVs. SHAPE-IT contributes to a) insights into acceptable and trusted AV designs, b) tools for assessing transparency, c) tools for assessing perceived safety, and d) insights into the necessity of considering learning strategies related to how humans interact with AVs, both inside and outside of the AV.
3. The efficient development of safe and accepted AVs necessitates effective communication. SHAPE-IT contributes to the body of engineering practices with a) human factors-related requirement strategies and b) an understanding of the beneficial placements of human factors experts within organizations to maximize their impact on AV development.
4. For an AV to be safe and accepted, its computer-driver must consider the actions and interactions of other human road users. SHAPE-IT contributes to the creation of computational models of a) cyclists’ interactions with motorized vehicles, b) pedestrians’ decision-making in their interactions with motorized vehicles, and c) predictions of pedestrians’ trajectories and intents. These models may be included in the computer-driver to predict pedestrians' and cyclists' intents, facilitating safe interactions.
5. Given that AVs in future cities must interact with vulnerable road users and manually driven vehicles, effective communication between AVs and these road users may become a crucial element of safe and accepted AV integration into traffic. SHAPE-IT contributes with a) research on the design of augmented reality interfaces for pedestrians, b) design strategies for AV-external human-machine interfaces (eHMI) and how they affect road-user behaviour, and c) communication through vehicle kinematics.
6. Evaluating the safety of AVs requires both understanding the scenarios AVs may encounter and having the tools available for accurate and efficient safety assessment. SHAPE-IT contributes with scenario definitions for cyclist interactions and improved methods for virtual safety assessment.
Although the research results from SHAPE-IT are important contributions, the training of the ESRs to be skilled researchers is at least as important. SHAPE-IT training has included several physical events as well as online training sessions (during the pandemic) and exposed the students to a variety of stakeholders.
Many publications have been submitted to peer-reviewed journals and many are already published. The ESRs have also attended conferences and other scientific dissemination venues. As part of SHAPE-IT’s final stakeholder workshop, we produced a project summary video as well as individual videos for each ESR (
https://www.shape-it.eu/shape-it-videos/(opens in new window)) where the ESRs also describe their research and reflect on their respective research domains.
Regarding research exploitation, SHAPE-IT outcomes are already used by several stakeholders, ranging from industry to policymaking. One example is that SHAPE-IT ESRs contribute (post-SHAPE-IT) to the EU project HiDrive. The partners of SHAPE-IT continue to collaborate, and in a few cases SHAPE-IT ESRs have continued their research career at another SHAPE-IT partner.
At the time of writing this summary, three of the 15 ESRs have successfully defended their PhDs, while the vast majority of the remaining ESRs have preliminary dates for their defence in the fall of 2024, and some in early 2025.
