Drivers' Spatio-Temporal Attentional Distributions Are Influenced by Vehicle Dynamics and Displayed Point of View

Area of Science:

• Human-Computer Interaction
• Automotive Engineering
• Cognitive Psychology

Background:

• Evaluating driver attention and tracking error is crucial for road safety.
• Display perturbation techniques and Fourier analysis offer methods to infer drivers' attention distribution and quantify tracking errors.

Purpose of the Study:

• To measure drivers' attention to preview and their velocity and acceleration tracking error.
• To evaluate the effectiveness of two-dimensional (top-down) and three-dimensional (windshield) displays for following a winding roadway.

Main Methods:

• Participants performed driving tasks in low-fidelity simulations, tracking a winding road with 1-second preview.
• Two display types (top-down and windshield) were paired with position and rate-aided vehicle dynamics.
• Display perturbation techniques and Fourier analysis were used to assess attention and tracking error.

Main Results:

• The windshield display resulted in smoother tracking for both vehicle dynamics compared to the top-down display.
• With rate-aided control, the top-down display led to significantly higher position error and lower attentional signal-to-noise ratios.
• The windshield display showed better stimulus-response compatibility with optimal attentional distributions.

Conclusions:

• Display design significantly influences driver attention and tracking performance.
• Windshield displays, which emphasize nearer preview information, can enhance driving performance by aligning with optimal attentional strategies.
• Display perturbation techniques provide a valuable method to assess attention in driving contexts, complementing eye-tracking measures.