On investigating drivers' attention allocation during partially-automated driving

Area of Science:

• Human-computer interaction
• Automotive engineering
• Cognitive psychology

Background:

• Partially-automated driving systems require driver supervision and timely manual control takeover.
• Drivers may exhibit reduced road-gaze duration when automation is active.
• Existing research explores inattentional blindness in automated driving contexts.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate whether drivers' reduced road-gaze during partial automation is linked to inattentional blindness or increased peripheral attention.
• To assess drivers' attentional processing of the driving scene under manual versus partially-automated conditions.
• To determine the impact of automation on drivers' awareness of roadside elements.

Main Methods:

• Participants drove a simulated vehicle in manual and partially-automated modes.
• Head-mounted eye-tracking recorded driver fixations.
• A surprise recognition task assessed awareness of roadside billboards.

Main Results:

• Drivers fixated on and recognized more billboards during partially-automated driving.
• Recognition performance remained high even as fixations decreased over time in automated mode.
• This suggests enhanced processing of peripheral visual information.

Conclusions:

• Partially-automated driving may increase attention to peripheral road scene elements.
• This shift in attention could compromise drivers' supervisory capabilities and timely manual control resumption.
• Further research is needed to understand the implications for driving safety.