Effects of navigation modalities on driving performance under different cognitive load levels: an evaluation based on...

The use of traditional navigation devices while driving leads to frequent gaze shifts, which is an important risk factor for distraction-related accidents. To fundamentally reduce the risk of visual distraction, non-visual auditory and tactile navigation are considered promising alternatives. Among these, wearable glasses, due to their head-mounted nature, facilitate the integration of multimodal cues on a single platform and may serve as an ideal solution for non-visual navigation. However, drivers often operate under varying levels of cognitive load, and the effects of auditory navigation, tactile navigation, and auditory-tactile navigation on driving performance under different cognitive load conditions remain unclear. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the effects of navigation modality (auditory navigation, tactile navigation, auditory-tactile navigation) and cognitive load level (no load, with load) on driving performance. A simulated driving study was conducted with a total of 36 participants. The results showed that, in terms of vehicle control, auditory navigation and auditory-tactile navigation outperformed tactile navigation in controlling both lateral and longitudinal maximum acceleration. Regarding secondary task performance, auditory-tactile navigation achieved the highest 1-back task accuracy, whereas auditory navigation resulted in the lowest accuracy. Regarding preference, auditory navigation was most preferred in the absence of cognitive load, while auditory-tactile navigation gained the highest preference when cognitive load was present. Overall, auditory-tactile navigation demonstrated better overall adaptability under cognitive load conditions. This finding provides empirical evidence for the design and evaluation of accident-prevention-oriented wearable navigation systems.