Transportation Research Board 94th Annual MeetingTransportation Research Board, 2015
Decades of research have supported the fact that low visibility at night is a major cause of conc... more Decades of research have supported the fact that low visibility at night is a major cause of concern for drivers and pedestrian highway workers. Lack of visibility is the reason why drivers find it difficult to see signs, barriers and highway workers at night. The perception of headlamp beam illumination and distribution, and its limitations by the drivers and the highway workers is important because it affects their risks of potentially unsafe behaviors. The present study evaluated both general drivers’ and highway workers’ understanding of illumination provided by automobile headlamps. Ninety-four university students and seventy-four highway workers participated in this study. Participants used a paper diagram of a roadway scene to indicate what portion of the scene they perceived their headlights would illuminate. Classification and evaluation of highway workers’ and drivers’ responses revealed that both groups do not possess a proper understanding of the area illuminated by their headlights. These findings fall into fairly distinct patterns. The results are consistent with earlier evidence that visibility challenges exist at night.
One method to adjust speed perception in a driving simulator is to adjust the rendered, geometric... more One method to adjust speed perception in a driving simulator is to adjust the rendered, geometric field of view (GFOV); however, little is known regarding users' sensitivity to changing the GFOV. The current research examined 24 licensed drivers' subjective experience with changes in GFOV during a speed matching task when examining the relationship between speed estimate and GFOV in a small-footprint driving simulator. Following the completion of the speed-matching task, participants were asked three questions regarding (1) strategy used to match speed: "What strategies did you use to complete the speed matching task?"; (2) awareness of GFOV setting: "Did you notice any changes in the simulation at any time during the experiment?"; and (3) subjective accuracy: "How accurate do you think you were in performing the task on a one to ten scale, one being 'extremely inaccurate' and ten being 'extremely accurate'?" Results indicated participants were not (directly) aware of changes in the GFOV; some misattributed the change in GFOV to a change in the vehicle's acceleration rate. Furthermore, many participants' cited strategies that were later categorized as 'using optic flow' and, in general, were unsure about their accuracy in the task.
Current parking assist systems are designed to aid the driver. A new concept for a parking assist... more Current parking assist systems are designed to aid the driver. A new concept for a parking assist system was designed to help other drivers. Sixteen participants completed this usability study to evaluate the intuitiveness of the parking assist concept. The results showed that all of the participants understood the purpose of the system without any explanation. Participants provided valuable suggestions for future iterations. The majority of the participants would like to have a similar parking assist system on their own vehicle as well as using it while parking. Future efforts are suggested prior to incorporating this concept on a production vehicle
Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society ... Annual Meeting, Oct 1, 2006
How much insight do individuals have into their own visual abilities? This study investigated the... more How much insight do individuals have into their own visual abilities? This study investigated the extent to which individuals from 18 to 78 years old can accurately predict their own acuity under a broad range of luminances. New psychophysically based methods were developed to facilitate direct comparisons between individuals' estimates of their own visual acuity and their actual acuity. While all age groups appreciate that reductions in luminance have negative consequences on acuity, both younger and middle-age adults underestimated their ability to see in dim conditions. Older adults, however, overestimated their ability to see. These results fail to support the hypothesis that seniors would be the most aware of their limited visual abilities at night. Future research should explore why some seniors are comfortable driving at night while others are not.
Pedestrians dramatically overestimate their own visibility at night. This is likely to result in ... more Pedestrians dramatically overestimate their own visibility at night. This is likely to result in pedestrians unknowingly engaging in dangerous behavior. To determine the extent to which pedestrians' estimates of their own visibility are influenced by educational interventions, clothing reflectance, and headlamp beam setting, participants in 2 experiments estimated their own nighttime visibility by walking toward a stationary car to the point where they believed they were just recognizable as a pedestrian. In the first experiment 48 university students were tested and in the second experiment 9 high-school driver education students were tested. Overall, participants failed to appreciate the benefits of reflective clothing and of high-beam illumination. However, the participants in Experiment 1 who had heard a relevant lecture several weeks earlier gave estimates that were 10% shorter than did a control group. Participants in Experiment 2 heard a more focused and graphicintensive lecture and gave estimates that were 56% shorter than did a control group. Potential applications of this research include increasing pedestrian safety by designing and implementing research-based public education campaigns aimed at reducing pedestrians' overestimates of their own nighttime visibility.
With the dramatic increase of vehicle technology, instrument clusters have become increasingly co... more With the dramatic increase of vehicle technology, instrument clusters have become increasingly complex. The development of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and different powertrain configurations (e.g. internal combustion engines, hybrids, electric vehicles) has increased the demand on drivers to become familiar with the amount of information displayed. Teen drivers, automotive engineering students, driving rehabilitation specialists, and performance driving instructors completed a survey. Overall, participants had poor performance identifying symbols that are presented to the driver on the instrument cluster. Teens had dramatically poorer performance (29%) compared to the three other groups (60%)
Page 1. Developing a New Driving Simulator Task to Assess Drivers' Functional Object Det... more Page 1. Developing a New Driving Simulator Task to Assess Drivers' Functional Object Detection Richard R. Goodenough Clemson University, South Carolina Johnell O. Brooks Clemson University, South Carolina Matthew C. Crisler Clemson University, South Carolina ...
Transportation Research Board 94th Annual MeetingTransportation Research Board, 2015
Decades of research have supported the fact that low visibility at night is a major cause of conc... more Decades of research have supported the fact that low visibility at night is a major cause of concern for drivers and pedestrian highway workers. Lack of visibility is the reason why drivers find it difficult to see signs, barriers and highway workers at night. The perception of headlamp beam illumination and distribution, and its limitations by the drivers and the highway workers is important because it affects their risks of potentially unsafe behaviors. The present study evaluated both general drivers’ and highway workers’ understanding of illumination provided by automobile headlamps. Ninety-four university students and seventy-four highway workers participated in this study. Participants used a paper diagram of a roadway scene to indicate what portion of the scene they perceived their headlights would illuminate. Classification and evaluation of highway workers’ and drivers’ responses revealed that both groups do not possess a proper understanding of the area illuminated by their headlights. These findings fall into fairly distinct patterns. The results are consistent with earlier evidence that visibility challenges exist at night.
One method to adjust speed perception in a driving simulator is to adjust the rendered, geometric... more One method to adjust speed perception in a driving simulator is to adjust the rendered, geometric field of view (GFOV); however, little is known regarding users' sensitivity to changing the GFOV. The current research examined 24 licensed drivers' subjective experience with changes in GFOV during a speed matching task when examining the relationship between speed estimate and GFOV in a small-footprint driving simulator. Following the completion of the speed-matching task, participants were asked three questions regarding (1) strategy used to match speed: "What strategies did you use to complete the speed matching task?"; (2) awareness of GFOV setting: "Did you notice any changes in the simulation at any time during the experiment?"; and (3) subjective accuracy: "How accurate do you think you were in performing the task on a one to ten scale, one being 'extremely inaccurate' and ten being 'extremely accurate'?" Results indicated participants were not (directly) aware of changes in the GFOV; some misattributed the change in GFOV to a change in the vehicle's acceleration rate. Furthermore, many participants' cited strategies that were later categorized as 'using optic flow' and, in general, were unsure about their accuracy in the task.
Current parking assist systems are designed to aid the driver. A new concept for a parking assist... more Current parking assist systems are designed to aid the driver. A new concept for a parking assist system was designed to help other drivers. Sixteen participants completed this usability study to evaluate the intuitiveness of the parking assist concept. The results showed that all of the participants understood the purpose of the system without any explanation. Participants provided valuable suggestions for future iterations. The majority of the participants would like to have a similar parking assist system on their own vehicle as well as using it while parking. Future efforts are suggested prior to incorporating this concept on a production vehicle
Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society ... Annual Meeting, Oct 1, 2006
How much insight do individuals have into their own visual abilities? This study investigated the... more How much insight do individuals have into their own visual abilities? This study investigated the extent to which individuals from 18 to 78 years old can accurately predict their own acuity under a broad range of luminances. New psychophysically based methods were developed to facilitate direct comparisons between individuals' estimates of their own visual acuity and their actual acuity. While all age groups appreciate that reductions in luminance have negative consequences on acuity, both younger and middle-age adults underestimated their ability to see in dim conditions. Older adults, however, overestimated their ability to see. These results fail to support the hypothesis that seniors would be the most aware of their limited visual abilities at night. Future research should explore why some seniors are comfortable driving at night while others are not.
Pedestrians dramatically overestimate their own visibility at night. This is likely to result in ... more Pedestrians dramatically overestimate their own visibility at night. This is likely to result in pedestrians unknowingly engaging in dangerous behavior. To determine the extent to which pedestrians' estimates of their own visibility are influenced by educational interventions, clothing reflectance, and headlamp beam setting, participants in 2 experiments estimated their own nighttime visibility by walking toward a stationary car to the point where they believed they were just recognizable as a pedestrian. In the first experiment 48 university students were tested and in the second experiment 9 high-school driver education students were tested. Overall, participants failed to appreciate the benefits of reflective clothing and of high-beam illumination. However, the participants in Experiment 1 who had heard a relevant lecture several weeks earlier gave estimates that were 10% shorter than did a control group. Participants in Experiment 2 heard a more focused and graphicintensive lecture and gave estimates that were 56% shorter than did a control group. Potential applications of this research include increasing pedestrian safety by designing and implementing research-based public education campaigns aimed at reducing pedestrians' overestimates of their own nighttime visibility.
With the dramatic increase of vehicle technology, instrument clusters have become increasingly co... more With the dramatic increase of vehicle technology, instrument clusters have become increasingly complex. The development of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and different powertrain configurations (e.g. internal combustion engines, hybrids, electric vehicles) has increased the demand on drivers to become familiar with the amount of information displayed. Teen drivers, automotive engineering students, driving rehabilitation specialists, and performance driving instructors completed a survey. Overall, participants had poor performance identifying symbols that are presented to the driver on the instrument cluster. Teens had dramatically poorer performance (29%) compared to the three other groups (60%)
Page 1. Developing a New Driving Simulator Task to Assess Drivers' Functional Object Det... more Page 1. Developing a New Driving Simulator Task to Assess Drivers' Functional Object Detection Richard R. Goodenough Clemson University, South Carolina Johnell O. Brooks Clemson University, South Carolina Matthew C. Crisler Clemson University, South Carolina ...
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