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Total results: 276

A surrogate test for cognitive demand: tactile detection response task (TDRT)

Year: 2015

Authors: L Hsieh,S Seaman, R Young

As advanced electronic technology continues to be integrated into in-vehicle and portable devices, it is important to understand how drivers handle multitasking in order to maintain safe driving while reducing driver distraction. NHTSA has made driver distraction mitigation a major initiative. Currently, several types of Detection Response Tasks (DRTs) for assessing selective attention by detecting and responding to visual or tactile events while driving have been under development by an ISO WG8 DRT group. Among these DRTs, the tactile version (TDRT) is considered as a sensitive surrogate measure for driver attention without visual-manual interference in driving, according to the ISO DRT Draft Standard. In our previous study of cognitive demand, our results showed that the TDRT is the only surrogate DRT task with an acute sensitivity to a cognitive demand increase in an auditory-vocal task (i.e., n-Back verbal working memory task). At the same time, a specificity for responding to only increased cognitive demand, not to increased physical demand for a visual-manual task (i.e., Surrogate Reference Task or SuRT). Similar findings in both simulated and on-road driving confirmed that the TDRT is a sensitive, specific and reliable surrogate test for measuring the effects of secondary tasks on driver attention. The current paper further investigated eye glance patterns and subjective ratings, and their relationship with DRT metrics, allowing a more comprehensive understanding of the attentional effect of secondary tasks on driver performance.

Eye Tracking Glasses
Simulator

6 versions available

Air Traffic Controller working position

Year: 2015

Authors: A Maij, H Dijk

This document is prepared by the National Aerospace Laboratory NLR and contains the research study for Esterline Control & Communication Systems to study the effects of display size on operator working experience. The goal of this research is to come to an independent assessment on the difference in perceived working experience of air traffic controllers in two different controller working positions: 1. Multiple display arrangement: Regular-sized (2K x 2K) controller working position with a primary radar control screen supported by one auxiliary display (i.e. multiple display arrangement); and 2. Single display arrangement: Large screen display with both radar and auxiliary information integrated into one screen (i.e. single display arrangement). NLR performed an experimental study in which six air traffic controllers experienced working with both working positions. The experiment was performed in a simulated operational setting; i.e. NLR’s air traffic control simulator NARSIM radar. Working experience was defined by measuring operator performance aspects such as workload, (eye) fatigue, situation awareness, usability, and task performance. The study results show that the perceived ATCO working experience in a multiple display arrangement is preferred over the experience in a single display arrangement. This is supported by the situation awareness findings that show that the situation awareness was higher in the multiple display arrangement than in the single display arrangement. It is also supported by the workload findings that show the trend that the workload was perceived lower in the multiple display arrangement than in the single display arrangement.

Eye Tracking Glasses
Simulator

3 versions available

App analytics: predicting the distraction potential of in-vehicle device applications

Year: 2015

Authors: M Krause,AS Conti, M Henning, C Seubert

Three experiments were conducted to check the feasibility of predicting experimental outcomes of driver distraction studies. The predictions are based on subtasks analysis and synthesis. In the first experiment, data (e.g., Total Glance Time, Single Glance Durations and Total Shutter Open Times) are gathered when subjects interacted with touch screen applications. In a second experiment, additional data were gathered about rotary knob interactions. These data were used to synthesis and predict the outcomes of a third (evaluation) experiment, which involved rotary knob and touch screen tasks. The results are promising and can help to have a better understanding of problematic subtasks and reduce testing of clearly unsuitable applications. The transfer of the procedure to other laboratories is challenging. The modeling and mapping process includes many subjective decisions.

Eye Tracking Glasses
Simulator

3 versions available

Driver-activity recognition in the context of conditionally autonomous driving

Year: 2015

Authors: C Braunagel,E Kasneci, W Stolzmann

This paper presents a novel approach to automated recognition of the driver's activity, which is a crucial factor for determining the take-over readiness in conditionally autonomous driving scenarios. Therefore, an architecture based on head-and eye-tracking data is introduced in this study and several features are analyzed. The proposed approach is evaluated on data recorded during a driving simulator study with 73 subjects performing different secondary tasks while driving in an autonomous setting. The proposed architecture shows promising results towards in-vehicle driver-activity recognition. Furthermore, a significant improvement in the classification performance is demonstrated due to the consideration of novel features derived especially for the autonomous driving context.

Eye Tracking Glasses
Simulator

6 versions available

Driving behaviour and driver assistance at traffic light intersections

Year: 2015

Authors: L Rittger

The increasing importance of environmental friendly and efficient transportation guides the interest of researchers and car manufacturers towards the development of technologies that support an efficient driving style. This thesis presents the development of a traffic light assistance system with the focus on human factors. The system aims on supporting drivers in approaching traffic light intersections efficiently. In three driving simulator studies, the content related research covered the investigation of the unassisted driving task, the influence of the system on the driver’s perception of the interaction with other road users and the information strategy of the human machine interface. When the traffic light phase changes or when visibility is limited, drivers prepare driving behaviour that is not appropriate for the traffic light phase at arrival at the intersection. These situations offer the greatest potential for the assistance system. The traffic light assistant is able to change driving behaviour. However, the expectation of other road user’s emotional reactions influences driver compliance. In situations in which drivers expected to bother others with their driving behaviour, compliance to the traffic light assistant was low. Further, the deviations of driver behaviour from the target strategy of the traffic light assistant are lowest when the HMI includes the two information units target speed and action recommendations. Traffic light phase information in the HMI is a subjectively important information for drivers. The results point towards the presentation of all three information units. The method related research covered the development of a method for measuring drivers’ information demand for dynamic stimuli. While driving, specific stimuli are action relevant for drivers, i.e. they need to be processed in order to decide on the appropriate driving behaviour. Eye tracking has been the standard method for measuring information demand while driving. The novel MARS (Masking Action Relevant Stimuli) method measures information demand by masking the dynamic action relevant stimulus in the driving environment or in the vehicle. To unmask the stimulus for a fixed interval, drivers press a button at the steering wheel. In the present thesis, two driving simulator studies evaluated the MARS method. They included measuring information demand for the traffic light phasing and the in-vehicle display of the traffic light assistant. The analyses demonstrate that variations in the experimental conditions influence the information demand measured with the MARS method qualitatively similar to the influences on fixations measured by eye tracking. Due to its simple application, the MARS method represents a promising tool for transportation research.

Simulator
Software

1 version available:

Driving with glaucoma: task performance and gaze movements

Year: 2015

Authors: TC Kübler,E Kasneci,W Rosenstiel

Purpose: The aim of this pilot study was to assess the driving performance and the visual search behavior, that is, eye and head movements, of patients with glaucoma in comparison to healthy-sighted subjects during a simulated driving test. Methods: Driving performance and gaze behavior of six glaucoma patients and eight healthy-sighted age- and sex-matched control subjects were compared in an advanced driving simulator. All subjects underwent a 40-minute driving test including nine hazardous situations on city and rural roads. Fitness to drive was assessed by a masked driving instructor according to the requirements of the official German driving test. Several driving performance measures were investigated: lane position, time to line crossing, and speed. Additionally, eye and head movements were tracked and analyzed. Results: Three out of six glaucoma patients passed the driving test and their driving performance was indistinguishable from that of the control group. Patients who passed the test showed an increased visual exploration in comparison to patients who failed; that is, they showed increased number of head and gaze movements toward eccentric regions. Furthermore, patients who failed the test showed a rightward bias in average lane position, probably in an attempt to maximize the safety margin to oncoming traffic. Conclusions: Our study suggests that a considerable subgroup of subjects with binocular glaucomatous visual field loss shows a safe driving behavior in a virtual reality environment, because they adapt their viewing behavior by increasing their visual scanning. Hence, binocular visual field loss does not necessarily influence driving safety. We recommend that more individualized driving assessments, which will take into account the patient’s ability to compensate, are required.

Eye Tracking Glasses
Simulator

7 versions available

Driving with homonymous visual field defects: Driving performance and compensatory gaze movements

Year: 2015

Authors: TC Kübler,E Kasneci,W Rosenstiel

Aim of this pilot study was to assess the driving performance and its relationship to the visual search behavior, i.e., eye and head movements, of patients with homonymous visual field defects (HVFDs) in comparison to healthy-sighted subjects during a simulated driving test. Eight HVFD patients and six healthy-sighted age- and gender-matched control subjects underwent a 40-minute driving test with nine hazardous situations. Eye and head movements were recorded during the drive. Four out of eight patients passed the driving test and showed a driving performance similar to that of the control group. One control group subject failed the test. Patients who passed the test showed an increased number of head and eye movements. Patients who failed the test showed a rightwards-bias in average lane position, probably in an attempt to maximize the safety margin to oncoming traffic. Our study supports the hypothesis that a considerable subgroup of subjects with HVFDs show a safe driving behavior, because they adapt their viewing behavior by increased visual scanning.

Eye Tracking Glasses
Simulator

8 versions available

Ergonomic design of the gauge cluster display for commercial trucks

Year: 2015

Authors: T Kim, J Park, J Choe, ES Jung

Objective: The purpose of this study is to determine the priority of information presentation and the effective menu type to be placed in the center of a gauge cluster display for commercial trucks and to present a set of ergonomic designs for the gauge cluster display. Background: An effective ergonomic design is specifically needed for the development of the gauge cluster display for the commercial trucks, because more diverse and heavier information is delivered to truck drivers, compared to the information to passenger car drivers. Method: First, all the information that must be shown on the commercial truck display was collected. Then, the severity, frequency of use, and display design parameters were evaluated for those information by commercial truck drivers. Next, an analysis on the information attributes and the heuristic evaluation utilizing the display design principles were carried out. According to the results, a design alternative of the main screen to be displayed was constructed by priority. A comparative analysis between the alternative and existing main screens was also conducted to see the efficacy of the designs. Lastly, we conducted an experiment for the selection of menu type. The experiment was conducted using the driving simulator with an eye-tracking device. The independent variables were four types of the menu reflecting the commercial truck characteristics such as grid type, icon type, list type, and flow type. We measured preference, total execution time, the total duration of fixation on the gauge cluster area, and the total number of fixation on the gauge cluster area as dependent variables. Results: Four types of driver convenience information and six types of driver assistance information were selected as the information to be placed primarily on the main screen of the gauge cluster. The Grid type was the most effective among the menu types. Conclusion: In this study, the information that appears on the main screen of the display, the division of the display and the design of the menu type for commercial truck drivers were suggested. Application: This study is expected to be utilized as guidelines on the ergonomic design of a gauge cluster display for commercial trucks.

Eye Tracking Glasses
Simulator

4 versions available

Evaluation of a radio tuning task on Android while driving

Year: 2015

Authors: M Krause, C Angerer,K Bengler

We implemented the AAM reference radio tuning procedure with some modifications for Android and tested it against a hardware radio on a tablet and on a smartphone. The used measurement methods involved an AAM track with driving metrics and eye tracking, a Lane Change Test (LCT) and occlusion testing. The metrics are reported and compared. The glance metrics seem to be potentially influenced by a carry-over effect from a training task toward longer glance durations. Nevertheless, the results are promising for further testing and validation experiments. Due to the easy setup, more uniform hardware (Android tablet) and a procedure without experimenter announcements, the open source application could be a valuable tool in experiments.

Simulator
Software

4 versions available

Eye glance analysis of the surrogate tests for driver distraction

Year: 2015

Authors: L Hsieh,S Seaman, RA Young

The purpose of this study was to examine the eye glance patterns of Detection Response Tasks (DRTs) for assessment of driver distraction during simulated driving. Several types of DRTs across visual, tactile and haptic modalities were used to investigate driver distraction by the ISO Driving Distraction working group. As part of the working group, we conducted a simulated driving study examining driver performance while engaging the primary driving task with visual-manual or auditory-verbal secondary tasks. Results of eye glance analysis showed that the visual DRTs increased visual load in driving more than the tactile DRT. Subsequently, the visual DRTs marginally increased the total glance time for forward view by 6.27 seconds and significantly increased the detection response time by 135.79 ms than the tactile DRT. As for the secondary tasks, the visual-manual secondary task yielded significantly longer total eye-off-the-road time (effect size = 50.75 ms), as well as DRT response times than the auditory-verbal ones time (effect size = 55.85 ms). This study allowed us to examine the relationships between rated situational awareness, DRT performance, and glance patterns, yielding insights into the relationship between objective task performance measures and subjective ratings.

Eye Tracking Glasses
Simulator

9 versions available