Comparing drivers' visual attention at Junctions in Real and Simulated Environments.
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| Title: | Comparing drivers' visual attention at Junctions in Real and Simulated Environments. |
|---|---|
| Authors: | Robbins, Chloe J.1 chloe.robbins@nottingham.ac.uk, Allen, Harriet A.1, Chapman, Peter1 |
| Source: | Applied Ergonomics. Oct2019, Vol. 80, p89-101. 13p. |
| Subjects: | Automobile driving simulators, Simulated environment (Teaching method), Eye movements, Visual perception, Automobile driving, Attention, Comparative studies, Computer simulation, Research methodology, Medical cooperation, Research, Evaluation research |
| Abstract: | Driving simulation is widely used to answer important applied research questions, however, it is vital for specific driving tasks to undergo appropriate behavioural validation testing. Many previous validation studies have used simple driving tasks and measured relatively low-level vehicle control. The purpose of the current study was to investigate whether drivers' visual attention at intersections with different levels of demand, are similar in the simulator and on the road. Unlike simpler driving tasks, crossing intersections requires complex interactions with other vehicles governed by sequences of head and eye movements that may not be accurately captured in a simulated environment. In the current study we directly compare performance at simulated junctions with the same participants' behaviour in a real car. We compared drivers' visual attention in a high-fidelity driving simulator (instrumented car, 360-degree screen) and on-road in both low and medium demand driving situations. The low and medium demand driving situations involved the same motor movements, containing straight on, right turn and left turn manoeuvres. The low demand situations were controlled by the road environment and traffic lights, whereas medium demand situations required the driver to scan the environment and decide when it was safe to pull out into the junction. Natural junctions in Nottingham were used for the on-road phase and the same junctions were recreated in the simulator with traffic levels matched to those that were encountered on the real roads. The frequency and size of drivers' head movements were not significantly different between manoeuvres performed in the simulator and those conducted when driving on real roads. This suggests that drivers' broad search strategies in the simulator are representative of real-world driving. These strategies did change as a function of task demand - compared to low demand situations, behaviour at the medium demand junctions was characterised by longer junction crossing times, more head movements, shorter fixation durations and larger saccadic amplitudes. Although patterns of head movements were equivalent on road and in the simulator, there were differences in more fine-grained measures of eye-movements. Mean fixation durations were longer in the simulator compared to on-road, particularly in low-demand situations. We interpret this as evidence for lower levels of visual engagement with the simulated environment compared to the real world, at least when the task demands are low. These results have important implications for driving research. They suggest that high fidelity driving simulators can be useful tools for investigating drivers' visual attention at junctions, particularly when the driving task is of at least moderate demand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of Applied Ergonomics is the property of Elsevier B.V. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Engineering Source |
| FullText | Text: Availability: 0 |
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| Header | DbId: egs DbLabel: Engineering Source An: 137324377 AccessLevel: 6 PubType: Academic Journal PubTypeId: academicJournal PreciseRelevancyScore: 0 |
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Oct2019, Vol. 80, p89-101. 13p. – Name: Subject Label: Subjects Group: Su Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Automobile+driving+simulators%22">Automobile driving simulators</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Simulated+environment+%28Teaching+method%29%22">Simulated environment (Teaching method)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Eye+movements%22">Eye movements</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Visual+perception%22">Visual perception</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Automobile+driving%22">Automobile driving</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Attention%22">Attention</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Comparative+studies%22">Comparative studies</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Computer+simulation%22">Computer simulation</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Research+methodology%22">Research methodology</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Medical+cooperation%22">Medical cooperation</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Research%22">Research</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Evaluation+research%22">Evaluation research</searchLink> – Name: Abstract Label: Abstract Group: Ab Data: Driving simulation is widely used to answer important applied research questions, however, it is vital for specific driving tasks to undergo appropriate behavioural validation testing. Many previous validation studies have used simple driving tasks and measured relatively low-level vehicle control. The purpose of the current study was to investigate whether drivers' visual attention at intersections with different levels of demand, are similar in the simulator and on the road. Unlike simpler driving tasks, crossing intersections requires complex interactions with other vehicles governed by sequences of head and eye movements that may not be accurately captured in a simulated environment. In the current study we directly compare performance at simulated junctions with the same participants' behaviour in a real car. We compared drivers' visual attention in a high-fidelity driving simulator (instrumented car, 360-degree screen) and on-road in both low and medium demand driving situations. The low and medium demand driving situations involved the same motor movements, containing straight on, right turn and left turn manoeuvres. The low demand situations were controlled by the road environment and traffic lights, whereas medium demand situations required the driver to scan the environment and decide when it was safe to pull out into the junction. Natural junctions in Nottingham were used for the on-road phase and the same junctions were recreated in the simulator with traffic levels matched to those that were encountered on the real roads. The frequency and size of drivers' head movements were not significantly different between manoeuvres performed in the simulator and those conducted when driving on real roads. This suggests that drivers' broad search strategies in the simulator are representative of real-world driving. These strategies did change as a function of task demand - compared to low demand situations, behaviour at the medium demand junctions was characterised by longer junction crossing times, more head movements, shorter fixation durations and larger saccadic amplitudes. Although patterns of head movements were equivalent on road and in the simulator, there were differences in more fine-grained measures of eye-movements. Mean fixation durations were longer in the simulator compared to on-road, particularly in low-demand situations. We interpret this as evidence for lower levels of visual engagement with the simulated environment compared to the real world, at least when the task demands are low. These results have important implications for driving research. They suggest that high fidelity driving simulators can be useful tools for investigating drivers' visual attention at junctions, particularly when the driving task is of at least moderate demand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] – Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright Label: Group: Ab Data: <i>Copyright of Applied Ergonomics is the property of Elsevier B.V. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) |
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| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Identifiers: – Type: doi Value: 10.1016/j.apergo.2019.05.005 Languages: – Code: eng Text: English PhysicalDescription: Pagination: PageCount: 13 StartPage: 89 Subjects: – SubjectFull: Automobile driving simulators Type: general – SubjectFull: Simulated environment (Teaching method) Type: general – SubjectFull: Eye movements Type: general – SubjectFull: Visual perception Type: general – SubjectFull: Automobile driving Type: general – SubjectFull: Attention Type: general – SubjectFull: Comparative studies Type: general – SubjectFull: Computer simulation Type: general – SubjectFull: Research methodology Type: general – SubjectFull: Medical cooperation Type: general – SubjectFull: Research Type: general – SubjectFull: Evaluation research Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: Comparing drivers' visual attention at Junctions in Real and Simulated Environments. Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Robbins, Chloe J. – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Allen, Harriet A. – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Chapman, Peter IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 10 Text: Oct2019 Type: published Y: 2019 Identifiers: – Type: issn-print Value: 00036870 Numbering: – Type: volume Value: 80 Titles: – TitleFull: Applied Ergonomics Type: main |
| ResultId | 1 |
