Towards a Joint Understanding of Remote Operation for Vehicles in Public Road Traffic

2026-06-09

AI Summary

Current autonomous driving systems cannot yet handle all traffic scenarios and thus rely on remote operation to enable driverless mobility services; however, a unified conceptual framework bridging multiple disciplines and stakeholders is lacking. This work proposes an interdisciplinary conceptual framework grounded in the differences between human and vehicle information processing, integrating operational modes such as remote assistance and teleoperation. By systematically synthesizing perspectives from human factors engineering, autonomous driving architectures, communication technologies, and regulatory policies, the framework clarifies the boundaries of information processing between humans and vehicles in remote operations. It effectively bridges the semantic gaps among engineering, psychology, informatics, and legal domains, thereby providing a theoretical foundation and collaborative platform for the safe and compliant deployment of remote operations in public road environments.

Abstract

Sustained driving automation systems are envisioned to be used as the foundation for driverless mobility services. However, both researchers and practitioners acknowledge that current driving automation systems are not yet able to handle all traffic situations that a human driver can handle. To bridge this gap and enable mobility services without an in-vehicle human driver or fallback, remote operation (or teleoperation) is increasingly discussed. Recently, first legal actions have been taken to enable some forms of remote operation on public roads. Remote operation encompasses a broad spectrum of methods to support a driving automation system, ranging from remote assistance, which includes providing information or releasing a maneuver, to remote driving, which includes driving the vehicle from a remote location. As such, safe implementation of remote operation in public road traffic challenges the collaboration of multiple academic disciplines (e.g. engineering, psychology, informatics, law, etc.) and stakeholders (e.g. remote operation service providers, remote operators, vehicle manufacturers, regulatory authorities, etc.). At the same time, the interdisciplinary discourse is often challenging due to differing expectations and language. To build a common ground, this article traces terminology back to the original differences in information processing both on human and vehicle side. This framework aims to help further discourse by directly specifying what is needed to engage a diverse audience including researchers and stakeholders of different backgrounds and interests. Recently discussed forms of teleoperation are integrated into this framework.

Problem

• remote operation
• driving automation
• teleoperation
• interdisciplinary collaboration
• public road traffic

Innovation

• remote operation
• teleoperation
• interdisciplinary framework
• driving automation
• human-vehicle interaction