CarNote: reducing misunderstanding between drivers by digital augmentation

The road environment can be seen as a social situation: Drivers need to coordinate with each other to share the infrastructure. In addition to the driving behaviour itself, lights, horn and speed are the most frequently used means to exchange information, limiting both the range and the bandwidth of the connectivity and leading to misunderstanding and conflict. With everywhere available connectivity and the broad penetration of social network services, the relationship between drivers on the road may gain more transparency, enabling social information to pass through the steel shell of the cars and giving opportunities to reduce misunderstanding and strengthen empathy. In this study, we present "CarNote", a concept that aims to reduce misunderstanding and conflict between drivers by showing their emergency driving status to others. This concept was prototyped and evaluated with users in a driving simulator. The results showed that CarNote enhances drivers' empathy, increases forgiveness and decreases anger to others on the road.