Pavlo Bazilinskyy, an assistant professor at Eindhoven University of Technology, had an unusual professional encounter. He was searching on PornHub for work, a finding that led to his recent industry workshop in Gothenburg, Sweden. The event focuses on preventing unwanted behavior in self-driving cars, including consensual interactions among passengers.

Roughly 300 hits later, Bazilinskyy and his colleagues are exploring how to stop people from engaging in inappropriate activities in robotaxis. The aim is to ensure that self-driving cars remain socially acceptable and safe for use by various demographics, including the elderly and people with disabilities.

“We want to see automated mobility solutions accepted, trusted by the general public,” says Alexandros Rouchitsas, an engineering psychologist also involved in the event. The academics are concerned that if self-driving cars become associated with antisocial behavior, they could lose public support.

The workshop will prompt participants to come up with physical and design interventions that could discourage such behavior. Ideas might include making vehicles transparent or implementing a system that lights up if the technology detects behavior that it deems inappropriate. The results of the workshop will be published in a paper.

This research could have broader implications, helping designers and lawmakers figure out how to create safe communal spaces in the future, beyond just self-driving cars.