Uncanny and Unsafe Valley of Assistance and Automation: First Sketch and Application to Vehicle Automation

Progress in sensors, computer power and increasing connectivity allow to build and operate more and more powerful assistance and automation systems, e.g. in aviation, cars and manufacturing. Besides many benefits, new problems occur e.g. in human-machine-interaction. In the field of automation, e.g. vehicle automation, a comparable, metaphorical design correlation is implied, an unsafe valley e.g. between partially- and highly-automated automation levels, in which due to misperceptions a loss of safety could occur. This contribution sketches the concept of the (uncanny and) unsafe valley of automation, summarizes early affirmative studies, gives first hints towards an explanation of the valley, outlines the design space how to secure the borders of the valley, and how to bridge the valley.