High visibility or quiet operation?: A statistical inference model of the wiper operation quality by the dual-code theory

•Examined visible (VQ), acoustic and vibration quality (AVQ) of the wiper operation.•Developed a multi-modal quality model, comparing against conventional jury chart.•The model predicts user's perceived quality, considering both VQ and AVQ.•Visual and auditory modality are compromised in the perception of wiper operations.

The motor industry has assured drivers that it will continually provide quality vehicles without compromising safety and comfort. In this sense, the quality of a product always needs to be determined by what the customer actually perceives, which has not been the case in the domain of wiper operation quality.To maintain a quality prediction model for wiper operation, this article develops a multi-modal inference model considering both the visible quality (VQ) and acoustic and vibration quality (AVQ). Based on the cognitive multimodal information processing theory, the model combines the two kinds of perceived information from various wiper operating conditions, i.e., the level of visibility obtained by wiper operations, and noises or shudders during operation.The regression model with regard to the customer's perceived quality was validated empirically, and an interesting gender effect was identified in the perception of wiper quality. Also, in place of the conventional quality evaluation method (e.g., checklists or jury charts), we suggest our model of the multimodal information processing theory not only to predict the perceived wiper operation quality (visibility and quietness), but also to apply it to other related fields in product quality measurement.Relevance to industryThis study proposes a multi-modal quality index model -visibility and quietness- in assessing wiper operation. Our model can be used in place of the conventional quality evaluation method (e.g., checklists or jury charts) in both the motor industry and other related fields in product quality measurement.