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Driving without wings: the effect of different digital mirror locations on the visual behaviour, performance and opinions of drivers

Large, David R.; Crundall, Elizabeth; Burnett, Gary; Harvey, Catherine; Konstantopoulous, Panos

Driving without wings: the effect of different digital mirror locations on the visual behaviour, performance and opinions of drivers Thumbnail


Authors

DAVID LARGE David.R.Large@nottingham.ac.uk
Senior Research Fellow

Elizabeth Crundall

Gary Burnett

Panos Konstantopoulous



Abstract

Drivers' awareness of the rearward road scene is critical when contemplating or executing lane-change manoeuvres, such as overtaking. Preliminary investigations have speculated on the use of rear-facing cameras to relay images to displays mounted inside the car to create ‘digital mirrors'. These may overcome many of the limitations associated with traditional ‘wing’ and rear-view mirrors, yet will inevitably effect drivers' normal visual scanning behaviour, and may force them to consider the rearward road scene from an unfamiliar perspective that is incongruent with their mental model of the outside world. We describe a study conducted within a medium-fidelity simulator aiming to explore the visual behaviour, driving performance and opinions of drivers while using internally located digital mirrors during different overtaking manoeuvres. Using a generic UK motorway scenario, thirty-eight experienced drivers conducted overtaking manoeuvres using each of five different layouts of digital mirrors with varying degrees of ‘real-world’ mapping. The results showed reductions in decision time for lane changes and eyes-off road time while using the digital mirrors, when compared with baseline traditional reflective mirrors, suggesting that digital displays may enable drivers to more rapidly pick up the salient information from the rearward road scene. Subjectively, drivers preferred configurations that most closely matched existing mirror locations, where aspects of real-world mapping were largely preserved. The research highlights important human factors issues that require further investigation prior to further development/implementation of digital mirrors within vehicles. Future work should also aim to validate findings within real-world on-road environments whilst considering the effects of digital mirrors on other important visual behaviour characteristics, such as depth perception.

Citation

Large, D. R., Crundall, E., Burnett, G., Harvey, C., & Konstantopoulous, P. (2016). Driving without wings: the effect of different digital mirror locations on the visual behaviour, performance and opinions of drivers. Applied Ergonomics, 55, 138-148. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apergo.2016.02.003

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Feb 1, 2016
Online Publication Date Feb 13, 2016
Publication Date Jul 1, 2016
Deposit Date May 25, 2016
Publicly Available Date May 25, 2016
Journal Applied Ergonomics
Print ISSN 0003-6870
Electronic ISSN 1872-9126
Publisher Elsevier
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 55
Pages 138-148
DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apergo.2016.02.003
Keywords Digital mirrors; Driving; Simulation; Visual behaviour
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/792111
Publisher URL http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0003687016300217
Contract Date May 25, 2016

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