News

We are pleased to share the preliminary program for the SAFER Thursday lunch seminars in spring 2026! 

The seminars are a much-appreciated meeting place to boost our network: meet new people, get inspiration for new ideas, share results and, above all, accelerate collaboration based on our partners’ needs and priorities.

This year we start a bit later in the term as we are in the middle of a move – thank you for your patience!

We will talk about the following topics and meet the following speakers:

26 February – Presentation of results from the project EARS – Enhanced Auditory Reality Scout, Johan Fagerlönn, RISE
New interaction solutions for highly automated vehicles (SAE 4–5) with a focus on sound design. Results from tests in real urban environments, where users were guided to pick-up locations for robotaxis – and how different solutions can influence road safety.

5 March – Presentation of results from AuST (SAFER pre-study): Acceptance for Use of Safety Technology
Jennie Edvardsson, Scania and Sanna Eveby, Guidance to Zero
What is needed for safety technologies in modern trucks to be understood, accepted and actually used? Results in the form of identified barriers/drivers and ways forward (survey/interviews) on, for example, geofencing, speed support and seatbelt reminders.

12 March – No seminar (study visit to Lund)

19 March – Smart Eye as hosts
Our partner Smart Eye is developing technology to understand and support driver behaviour (including driver monitoring), with a focus on what creates real safety benefits in practical use, presents its research and insights on how this field is evolving.

26 March – Sim-to-Real: From simulation to reality with autonomous cars, Erik Frisk, Linköping University Erik will discuss how to build a “bridge” between simulation and reality for autonomous vehicles – and what this enables in terms of faster development, safer testing and more realistic validation.

4 and 9 April – No seminars (Easter break)

16 April – Project results from ADAPTIN & SupportIN, Johan Karlsson, Cognitian
Johan will present key results and benefits from two projects:

• ADAPTIN: Proposals for how adaptive safety measures can be activated when driver capability is reduced (e.g. fatigue/impairment).
• SupportIN: How better UX and supportive interaction can help systems such as ACC/lane keeping be active when they should be – and clarify system limitations.

23 April – Software-Defined Vehicles, Miroslaw Staron, University of Gothenburg
The focus for this talk will be what the shift to software-defined vehicles means for development, quality and safety – and what we need to measure and follow up to achieve robust results in practice.

7 May – WHY30 – Lower urban speed limits, Folksam
Folksam presents results on why 30 km/h is crucial in mixed traffic and which measures actually make a difference – with data analyses and recommendations that support Vision Zero in the everyday reality of municipalities.

Practical information
The seminars are held in hybrid format: on site (lunch from 11:30) and online via Teams (12:00–12:45).
On-site participation requires lunch registration (no later than Tuesday at 12:00 the week before).

📩 Would you like to know more, participate – or do you have a theme or results you would like to present in the SAFER community? Please contact Sophia Guerra Ekesand: ekesand@chalmers.se.