Ford, which uses the technology in many models, was curious to see how it helps drivers. It embarked on a nine-month research project with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology New England University Transportation Center to find out. Together the brainiacs tested 42 Boston-area drivers equally distributed by age and sex. They got behind the wheel of a tricked out Lincoln MKS straight out of Knight Rider with a research assistant riding shotgun to record the data.

The study found the average heart rate of drivers dropped by 12 beats per minute while using Ford’s Active Park Assist technology when parallel parking. Drivers also reported lower levels of stress using the technology, which handles the steering while drivers work the brake and gas. When pulling into traffic, every driver using cross-traffic detection tech hit the brakes when appropriate, compared to 71 percent of drivers who weren’t using the tech.

We got to check out the mind-reading MKS on the MIT campus last week. Aside from its reserved prime parking spot, magnetic decals on the doors and a few wires jutting out of the panel gaps at the rear of the car, it’s an ordinary Bordeaux Reserve-colored luxe Lincoln.

Pop the trunk, however, and it’s a different story.

In addition to Active Park Assist and cross-traffic detection, the MIT MKS has a three point EKG and monitors for skin conductance, skin temperature, peripheral blood flow, muscle tension and heart rate. All the gear is juiced up using an auxiliary power source behind the back seat. An eye-tracking camera on the dash tells researchers whether drivers are using their mirrors, looking at the road, or trying to change the station when Creed comes on the radio. It’s all wired into the vehicle’s CANbus and recorded.

Ford and MIT didn’t use all those technologies for this particular test, but according to Bryan Reimer, associate director of research at NEUTC and Bruce Mehler, a research scientist at the Center, it’s a universal platform that can be used for multiple tests.

Having a physiological component to a testbed vehicle is important to ensure objective measurement of driver stress as study participants can often answer researcher’s questions with answers they think the researcher wants to hear, a phenomenon known as response bias.

In this case, the heart rate data best supported the study’s conclusion. “The physiological statement is even more dramatic,” Mehler said. In addition to the 12 beat per minute reduction while parking, drivers also experienced a heart rate that was on average 3.4 beats per minute lower when anticipating parallel parking with Active Park Assist.

As interesting as the car is itself, Reimer and Mehler say that the study findings offer powerful information for designers of new in-vehicle technology. Previously, said Mehler, researchers determined at what point drivers began to have trouble controlling a car. “That’s telling when a person has crossed a threshold,” Mehler said. “We’re interested in the incremental steps before that breakdown.”

What happens to prevent a driver from becoming dangerously stressed or unable to function? First, said Reimer, monitor the driver’s behavior. “If you can detect change, then you can do something about it.”

Longer term, the researchers envision a vehicle that can automatically and gradually reduce driver stress or distractions, or give a driver some subtle cues or assistance as stress levels rise and driver performance fails.

“Another warning alarm isn’t necessary,” Mehler said. “The ability to put information in front of a driver exceeds their ability to comprehend it.” Instead of flashing lights and beeping alarms, the researchers are hoping to look at more subtle ways to calm drivers in stressful situations.

Thankfully, our test drive ended without incident. Unlike the study participants, we weren’t given a chance to get acclimated to the car or practice parking. Also unlike the lucky driver shown in the photos who got to park the car between the mock vehicles used in the actual experiment, we squeezed in between a real Jeep and a real Infiniti on a side street in Kendall Square.

Photos: Ford

A researcher looks at heart rate data on the computer in the back seat of MIT's MKS

The MKS parking itself between two faux cars in Kendall Square

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Authors: Keith Barry

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