A state of science on highly automated driving.

Technological improvements have made highly automated driving (HAD) a reality. The aims of the current contribution are to (1) clarify concepts related to vehicle automation and associated human-machine cooperation issues, (2) summarise research directions that have already been explored with HAD, (3) summarise known effects of HAD on humans' cognitive functions and constructs, (4) discuss current and future issues and challenges for vehicle automation, and (5) extend the debate to the design and use of human tools. Both theoretical and practical insights indicate that HAD is deeply modifying drivers' activity and could result in safety-critical difficulties for drivers under certain circumstances. Attentional processes, workload, situation awareness, behavioural adaptations, the out-of-the-loop phenomenon, acceptance of and trust in automation are the main cognitive dimensions and constructs investigated in order to describe how HAD is impacting driving. Future research directions that may help improve HAD are discussed. Finally, the fact that human tools both result from but simultaneously go beyond individual intelligence is described as the new irony of automation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]