“I’m Always Here”: An Affective Companion Agent for Novice Drivers

Novice drivers face operational and emotional challenges but are often overlooked in current in-vehicle agent design. Based on the interviews with 22 novice drivers, we introduce an affective companion in-vehicle agent that monitors drivers’ expressions and proactively provides situational guidance and emotional support through animated interface and voice interaction without wake word. We developed a design prototype and implemented it in a driving simulator. The evaluation (N = 20) showed that users provided positive ratings for interaction quality, emotional support, and overall satisfaction, indicating the system’s potential for practical in-vehicle applications. This study provides new insights for the design of in-vehicle affective agents.