Abstract:
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In a society in which peoplespend a significant amount of time traveling by car, in-car entertainment systems have emerged to reduce the boredom and tediousness of journeys. Thinking in the foreseeable future in which autonomous cars will be commonplace, car manufacturers are developinga new in-car entertainment system for passengerswhich reduces the motion sickness and enhances the passenger’sexperience. This systemconsists of adapting the use of virtual reality headsets inside carsto enable the passenger to experience virtual reality content while riding in the car. Although some automakers have already demonstrated their virtual reality in-car systems,they are not commercializedyet. In order to predict the degree of adoption of this innovative solution, evaluating user acceptance is crucial. However, there is not a user acceptance model to evaluate this solution in the literature. In this thesis, a user acceptance modelis proposedto predict the adoption of virtual reality headsets by backseat passengers in the car. The model isgrounded on the Technology Acceptance Model andhas five factors: Perceived usefulness, Perceived ease of use, Behavioral intention, Personal innovativeness, and Accessibility; that predict the user adoption of this application, explainingabout 60%of the variance. Additionally, insights into individuals' beliefs, collected through two quantitative questionnaires, are provided about the subject.Respondents from a European sample are skeptical about this innovative in-car entertainment solution and would not adopt it in a foreseeable future, because they do not perceive its utility. However, respondents from an American sample are more positive about its adoption. Findings showed that there is a strong relationship between prior virtual reality usage and the willingness to useVR reality headsetsin the car as a passenger. This factor should be included in future research |