Autonomous vehicles (AVs) are expected to communicate to vulnerable road users as a substitution of, for example, driver-pedestrian communication, leading to increased safety and acceptance. This communication is currently one-directional, i.e., from the AV to the pedestrian. However, today’s communication between drivers and pedestrians in crossing scenarios is bidirectional. Pedestriansgesture “thank you” or wave drivers through in case they do not want to cross. Human drivers often acknowledge this, for example, with a nod. We present an experiment in Virtual Reality (N=20), in which the effect of such acknowledgment of the AVs via its external communication is investigated for the two described scenarios and concerning pedestrian presence. Results show that such feedback is perceived as highly necessary, depends on the scenario, and improves the perceived intelligence of the AV, confirming a Halo-Effect.

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