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In this paper, we investigate the effect of an external human- machine interface (eHMI) and a conspicuous external vehicle appearance due to visible sensors on pedestrian interactions with automated vehicles (AVs). Recent research shows that AVs may need to explicitly communicate with the environ- ment due to the absence of a driver. Furthermore, in interac- tion situations, an AV that looks different and conspicuous owing to an extensive sensor system may potentially lead to hesitation stemming from mistrust in automation. Thus, we evaluated in a virtual reality study how pedestrian attitude, the presence/absence of an eHMI, and a conspicuous sensor system affect their willingness to cross the road. Results rec- ommend the use of an eHMI. A conspicuous appearance of automated-driving capability had no effect for the sample as a whole, although it led to more efficient crossing decisions for those with a more negative attitude towards AVs. Our findings contribute towards the effective design of future AV interfaces.

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Can interactions between automated vehicles and pedestrians be evaluated in a quantifiable and standardized way? In order to answer this, we designed an input device in the form of a continuous slider that enables pedestrians to indicate their willingness to cross a road and their feeling of safety in real time in response to an approaching vehicle. In an initial field study, 71% of the participants reported that they were able to use the device naturally and indicate their feeling of safety satisfactorily. The feeling-of-safety slider can consequently be used to evaluate and benchmark interactions between pedestrians and vehicles, and compare communication interfaces for automated vehicles.

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Can interactions between automated vehicles and pedestrians be evaluated in a quantifiable and standardized way? In order to answer this, we designed an input device in the form of a continuous slider that enables pedestrians to indicate their willingness to cross a road and their feeling of safety in real time in response to an approaching vehicle. In an initial field study, 71% of the participants reported that they were able to use the device naturally and indicate their feeling of safety satisfactorily. The feeling-of-safety slider can consequently be used to evaluate and benchmark interactions between pedestrians and vehicles, and compare communication interfaces for automated vehicles.

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Viruses have gained a notoriously bad reputation as infectious agents, but they are nonetheless fascinating for biologists, not least because they are the most numerous and fastest evolving organisms on the planet. Moreover, viruses have had a significant role in the evolution of all other organisms, from bacteria through vertebrates to humans. But the full extent of this role is only just emerging, and scientists are reappraising not just the relationship between viruses and their hosts, but also the main principle of evolution: that it operates largely on the basis of gene mutation coupled with selection. " …viruses have had a significant role in the evolution of all other organisms, from bacteria through vertebrates to humans In fact, infectivity is only the tip of the viral iceberg, and cohabitation is actually the norm—as is the case for bacteria. Similarly to bacteria and other microorganisms, most viruses and their hosts have co‐evolved either into commensal relationships where the parasite's impact is neutral, or into mutually beneficial symbiotic arrangements. Of course, for viruses there is also the additional genomic dimension: they insert themselves into the host's DNA and in doing so can generate novel proteins and RNA molecules that might be valuable to the host. Moreover, it also allows the virus to manipulate the host genomic structure itself. Although this ability could wreak potential genetic havoc, it might also trigger significant structural and functional changes in the host genome that could not occur through random mutation alone. Viruses have the unique ability to incorporate themselves permanently into the genomes of their hosts—a phenomenon known as endogenization—and thus lose their ability to infect other individuals. In return, they gain immortality, as they are passed down to successive generations of hosts. Yet, although no other microorganisms can invade the genome, endogenization has a parallel among …

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