Coach My Ride: Mentorable Interfaces to support Older Australians' Mobility

This project will co-design new interfaces to support older Australians to collaboratively learn the use of automated vehicles. We will seek to understand the needs, expectations, and challenges of urban and rural residents, and the peer support strategies they deploy to learn technology. Mobility is key to the wellbeing of older people, but automated vehicles that are too complex will fail to deliver their promise of independent ageing. Outcomes will be a new theory of collaborative learning and new mentorable interfaces to allow older adults to mentor each other to access and use new mobility solutions. This will contribute to narrow the digital and mobility gap improving the independence, safety and wellbeing of ageing Australians.

The project’s aims are to:

1. Through older Australians lived experiences, understand their expectations and peer-support strategies relating to technology and mobility in urban and rural contexts, focusing on their ways of learning, skills, circumstances, and networks of relations.
2. Iteratively co-design and prototype novel AV interfaces with older adults and testing the novel interfaces in realistic highly automated driving conditions on the QUT owned ZOE2 AV (SAE L4 capable on public roads).
3. Develop a new generative theory of Mentorable AV Interface Design to sustain peer-led, community-based technology mentorship, and to support ageing Australians’ mobility and wellbeing.