7 research outputs found
Effects of working memory load and repeated scenario exposure on emergency braking performance
No full textObjective: The objective of the present study was to examine the effect of working memory load on drivers' responses to a suddenly braking lead vehicle and whether this effect (if any) is moderated by repeated scenario exposure. Background: Several experimental studies have found delayed braking responses to lead vehicle braking events during concurrent performance of nonvisual, working memory-loading tasks, such as hands-free phone conversation. However, the common use of repeated, and hence somewhat expected, braking events may undermine the generalizability of these results to naturalistic, unexpected, emergency braking scenarios. Method: A critical lead vehicle braking scenario was implemented in a fixed-based simulator. The effects of working memory load and repeated scenario exposure on braking performance were examined. Results: Brake response time was decomposed into accelerator pedal release time and accelerator-to-brake pedal movement time. Accelerator pedal release times were strongly reduced with repeated scenario exposure and were delayed by working memory load with a small but significant amount (178 ms). The two factors did not interact. There were no effects on accelerator-to-brake pedal movement time. Conclusion:The results suggest that effects of working memory load on response performance obtained from repeated critical lead vehicle braking scenarios may be validly generalized to real world unexpected events. Application: The results have important implications for the interpretation of braking performance in experimental settings, in particular in the context of safety-related evaluation of in-vehicle information and communication technologies. © 2010, Human Factors and Ergonomics Society
Performance of a one-camera and a three-camera system
No full textDriving and operating a vehicle is to a great extent a visual task. In driver behaviour studies it is therefore important to be able to measure where the driver is looking. Today this can be done unobtrusively and remotely in real-time with camera based eye tracking. The most common remote eye tracking systems use multiple cameras in order to give satisfactory results. However, promising results using only one camera has recently emerged on the market. The main objective of this study is to compare eye tracking systems with one and three cameras, respectively, during various measurement conditions. A total of 53 participants were enrolled in the study. Data from the two eye trackers were acquired and analysed in terms of availability, accuracy and precision. The results indicate that both availability and accuracy are affected by many different factors. The most important factors are the number of cameras that is used and the angular distance from straight ahead. In the central region (straight ahead) both one-camera and three-camera systems have a high degree of accuracy and availability, but with increasing distance from the central region, the results deteriorate. This effect falls harder upon the one-camera system. Interestingly, there were no significant effects when wearing glasses in either availability or accuracy. There was however an interaction effect between distance and glasses. Advantages with a one-camera system are that it is cheaper, easier to operate and easier to install in a vehicle. A multi-camera system will, on the other hand, provide higher availability and accuracy for areas that are far from the road centre. A one-camera system is thus mostly suitable for in-vehicle applications such as systems that warn drivers for sleepiness or distraction while multi-camera solutions are preferable for research purposes
Performance of a one-camera and a three-camera system
No full textDriving and operating a vehicle is to a great extent a visual task. In driver behaviour studies it is therefore important to be able to measure where the driver is looking. Today this can be done unobtrusively and remotely in real-time with camera based eye tracking. The most common remote eye tracking systems use multiple cameras in order to give satisfactory results. However, promising results using only one camera has recently emerged on the market. The main objective of this study is to compare eye tracking systems with one and three cameras, respectively, during various measurement conditions. A total of 53 participants were enrolled in the study. Data from the two eye trackers were acquired and analysed in terms of availability, accuracy and precision. The results indicate that both availability and accuracy are affected by many different factors. The most important factors are the number of cameras that is used and the angular distance from straight ahead. In the central region (straight ahead) both one-camera and three-camera systems have a high degree of accuracy and availability, but with increasing distance from the central region, the results deteriorate. This effect falls harder upon the one-camera system. Interestingly, there were no significant effects when wearing glasses in either availability or accuracy. There was however an interaction effect between distance and glasses. Advantages with a one-camera system are that it is cheaper, easier to operate and easier to install in a vehicle. A multi-camera system will, on the other hand, provide higher availability and accuracy for areas that are far from the road centre. A one-camera system is thus mostly suitable for in-vehicle applications such as systems that warn drivers for sleepiness or distraction while multi-camera solutions are preferable for research purposes
Effects of forward collision warning, initial time headway and repeated scenario exposure on driver response in emergency lead vehicle braking scenarios
No full textTo address the research questions, acritical lead vehicle braking scenario and anFCW system was developed and pilot tested in Saab’s fixed based driving simulator in Trollhättan. After piloting, the scenario was implemented in VTI’s moving base simulatorin Linköping, and the effects,of FCW presence, two different initial time headways at visual distraction task onset and repeated scenario exposure, on driver response timeswere examined.The study showed significant effects of FCW and repeated scenario exposure on response times. Moreover, these effects were not additivei.e. a significant interaction between the two was found. There was also a significant effect on responsetimes ofinitial time headway at onset of the visual distraction task. In addition, an interaction between initial time headway and repeated scenario exposure was found for drivers with FCW, but not for drivers without FCW. A second objective of the project was to compare the extent to which the VTI moving base simulator with motion cues generates similar driver responses(quantitatively and qualitatively)as the static simulator set-up at Saab. In general, theresults from this project have important implications for the interpretation of driver performance in experimental settings, particularlywhen aiming toevaluate safety-related in-vehicle information and warning technologies. For onething,they pose a general question markaround the generalizabilityof results to real world events. Second, a future prerequisite for FCW studies should probably be that test drivers have a previous level of system exposure level which matchesthat of real world drivers encountering typical critical events. Also, tuning the initialtime headwayat distraction task onsetin the experimentalsetting to real world conditions is of critical importance
Analysis of accident data for test scenario definition in the ASSESS project
No full textThe overall purpose of the ASSESS project is to develop a relevant and standardised set of test and assessment methods and associated tools for integrated vehicle safety systems, primarily focussing on currently available pre-crash sensing systems. The first stage of the project was to define casualty relevant accident scenarios so that the test scenarios will be developed based on accident scenarios which currently result in the greatest injury outcome, measured by a combination of casualty severity and casualty frequency. The first analysis stage was completed using data from a range of accident databases, including those which were nationally representative (STATS19, UK and STRADA, SE) and in-depth sources which provided more detailed parameters to characterise the accident scenarios (GIDAS, DE and OTS, UK). A common analysis method was developed in order to compare the data from these different sources, and while the data sets were not completely compatible, the majority of the data was aligned in such a way that allowed a useful comparison to be made. As the ASSESS project focuses on pre-crash sensing systems fitted to passenger cars, the data selected for the analysis was "injury accidents which involved at least one passenger car". The accident data analysis yielded the following ranked list of most relevant accident scenarios: Rank Accident scenario 1 Driving accident - single vehicle loss of control 2 Accidents in longitudinal traffic (same and opposite directions) 3 Accidents with turning vehicle(s) or crossing paths in junctions 4 Accidents involving pedestrians The ranked list highlights the relatively large role played by "accidents in longitudinal traffic", and "accidents with turning vehicle(s) or crossing paths in junctions" (the second and third most prevalent accident scenarios, respectively). The pre-crash systems addressed in ASSESS propose to yield beneficial safety outcomes with specific regard to these accident scenarios. This indicates that the ASSESS project is highly relevant to the current casualty crash problem. In the second stage of the analysis a selection of these accident scenarios were analysed further to define the accident parameters at a more detailed level .This paper describes the analysis approach and results from the first analysis stage
