AutoTRUST

AutoTRUST in Motion: Enhancing Trust, Safety & Inclusiveness in Automated Mobility

by Angeliki Zacharaki (CERTH)

As AutoTRUST moves into its second year, the project continues to evolve with a clear mission: To reshape the in-cabin experience of Automated Vehicles (AVs) with a strong emphasis on personalization, trust-building, inclusiveness, and user well-being. Since its launch, AutoTRUST has fostered collaboration across disciplines and borders, laying a robust foundation for a more human-centric approach to Connected, Cooperative and Automated Mobility (CCAM). The past months have brought several key developments — both in the lab and out in the field.

Participation at EUCAD 2025 / CCAM Partnership Event in Ispra (May 2025)

In May, AutoTRUST was proudly represented at the European Conference on Connected and Automated Driving (EUCAD), held at the JRC Ispra in Italy — one of the key annual events for the European CCAM community. The event was an opportunity for AutoTRUST to:

  • Present its inclusive, AI-powered vehicle technologies.
  • Share early results and visions for adaptive HMI, in-cabin monitoring, and user-centered design.
  • Connect with other Horizon Europe-funded projects and foster future synergies.
  • Contribute to the dialogue on standardisation and societal impact in CCAM.

This visibility strengthens AutoTRUST’s position within the European Partnership on CCAM,and reinforces its commitment to openness, collaboration, and shared innovation.

Second Plenary Meeting: Aligning for the Next Phase

In Month 7 (M7), the consortium came together for the 2nd Plenary Meeting, hosted in hybrid format by UNIGE in Switzerland. The meeting provided an important moment of reflection and alignment across all work packages. Highlights included:

  • Updates on progress in technical development and integration.
  • Workshops on cross-WP collaboration and use case readiness.
  • Interactive sessions on user feedback loops, data governance, and pilot deployment planning.
  • A deep dive into Federated Learning architecture, HMI personalization layers, and the emerging Virtual Assistant (VAS) framework.

These strategic meetings are vital for ensuring that our shared vision stays on course — and that the end result is not just technologically advanced, but socially relevant and trustworthy.

Co-Creation & User Engagement: Staying Grounded in Real Needs

The user-centered design approach remains at the heart of AutoTRUST. Over the past months, we’ve conducted:

  • Co-creation workshops with older adults, people with reduced mobility, and public transport users.
  • Consultations with stakeholders from urban transport authorities and accessibility organisations.
  • Feedback loops that have directly informed interface design and system adaptation logic.

These activities ensure that AutoTRUST solutions are developed with users, not just for them — creating technologies that respect the diversity of needs and preferences in real-world mobility.

Technical Milestones: Intelligent Systems Taking Shape

The second half of Year 1 marked a period of significant technical progress. Key achievements include:

  • Enhancement of the Virtual Assistant System (VAS) with Explainable AI (XAI) features for transparent user interaction.
  • Ongoing deployment of the Adaptive Monitoring System (AMS) for in-cabin safety, emotion detection, and comfort analytics.
  • Progress in multi-modal sensor integration and gesture-based HMI control.
  • Refinement of privacy-preserving Federated Learning (FL) techniques to enable real-time system improvement while safeguarding user data.
  • Initial validation activities in preparation for pilot testing across four countries.

All technologies are designed to be modular, adaptive, and inclusive— ensuring that users of all ages, abilities, and mobility contexts can benefit.

What's Next?

As we move into the second year of the project, AutoTRUST is preparing for the deployment and validation of its technologies in four real-life pilot sites.

Next steps include:

  • Launch of pilot testing in four EU countries.
  • Deployment of user-facing systems such as VAS, AMS, and HMI in real mobility scenarios.
  • Continued collaboration within the CCAM ecosystem to align with policy, standards, and ethical frameworks.
  • Further stakeholder engagement and community outreach.

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