DRIVERS' EYE MOVEMENTS AND VISUAL WORKLOAD

Abstract

AN EYE-MARKER CAMERA WAS USED TO RECORD DRIVERS' VISUAL SEARCH AND SCAN PATTERNS UNDER THREE LEVELS OF ROUTE FAMILIARITY (MEDIATED BY INSTRUCTIONS) AND TWO DRIVING CONDITIONS (OPEN DRIVING AND STEADY-STATE CAR FOLLOWING.) THE DRIVERS DROVE ON AN EXPRESSWAY ROUTE FOR WHICH THEY HAD MEMORIZED A SET OF DIRECTIONS. THEY WERE INSTRUCTED ON TRIAL 1 TO READ ALL ROAD SIGNS AS A DRIVER WHO IS UNFAMILIAR WITH THE ROUTE MUST DO; ON TRIAL 2 TO READ ONLY THOSE SIGNS NECESSARY; AND ON TRIAL 3 TO TRY NOT TO READ ANY SIGNS AS THE DRIVER WHO IS VERY FAMILIAR WITH THE ROUTE DOES. THE RESULTS SHOWED THAT FOR OPEN DRIVING THE VISUAL PATTERNS SHIFTED TO THE LEFT AND DOWN AND SHOWED MORE COMPACTNESS AS A FUNCTION OF TRIALS. IN ADDITION, THE PERCENT OF TIME SPENT VIEWING ROAD SIGNS AND THE SACCADIC TRAVEL DISTANCE TO FIXATIONS ON OTHER TRAFFIC, ROAD AND LANE MARKERS, AND BRIDGES AND ROAD SIGNS DECREASED AS THE DRIVER BECAME MORE FAMILIAR WITH THE ROUTE. FOR CAR FOLLOWING, THE INCREASE IN COMPACTNESS OF THE VISUAL PATTERN OVER TRIALS WAS PRONOUNCED BUT THERE WAS NO CHANGE IN THE CENTER OF LOCATION OF THE VISUAL PATTERN. COMPARED WITH OPEN DRIVING, THE TRAVEL DISTANCES FOR CAR FOLLOWING WERE GREATER WHEN LOOKING AHEAD AND AT BRIDGES, ROAD SIGNS, AND OTHER VEHICLES. HOWEVER, DRIVERS IN THE CAR-FOLLOWING CONDITION SPENT LESS TIME READ- ING ROAD SIGNS, INDICATING THAT THEY USED THE LEAD CAR AS AN AID FOR ROUTE GUIDANCE. POSSIBLE VISUAL AIDS FOR DECREASING THE DRIVER'S VISUAL WORKLOAD UNDER TODAY'S DRIVING CONDI- TIONS ARE DISCUSSED. /AUTHOR/

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