Melissa C. Hulse

Attentional demand requirements of an automobile moving-map navigation system

The objective of this research was to assess the driver visual attentional demand requirements of an operational in-car navigation system. Thirty-two driver subjects ranging in age from 18 to 73 drove a specially instrumented vehicle on various types of public roadways with varying traffic conditions. Drivers performed both specific navigation system tasks and conventional tasks using dashboard instrumentation. Comparisons were then made between the two types of tasks. Results show that the demand of most of the navigation tasks was comparable to that of one or more conventional tasks. Modifying the remaining navigation tasks to make information more readily available would reduce their demand.

Effects of Age, System Experience, and Navigation Technique on Driving with an Advanced Traveler Information System

This paper explores the effects of age, system experience, and navigation technique on driving, navigation performance, and safety for drivers who used TravTek, an Advanced Traveler Information System. The first two studies investigated various route guidance configurations on the road in a specially equipped instrumented vehicle with an experimenter present. The third was a naturalistic quasi-experimental field study that collected data unobtrusively from more than 1200 TravTek rental car drivers with no in-vehicle experimenter. The results suggest that with increased experience, drivers become familiar with the system and develop strategies for substantially more efficient and safer use. The results also showed that drivers over age 65 had difficulty driving and navigating concurrently. They compensated by driving slowly and more cautiously. Despite this increased caution, older drivers made more safety-related errors than did younger drivers. The results also showed that older drivers benefited substantially from a well-designed ATIS driver interface.

SOME HUMAN FACTORS DESIGN ISSUES AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR AUTOMOBILE NAVIGATION INFORMATION SYSTEMS

Abstract This paper addresses some of the major human factors issues associated with automobile navigation information systems. Human factors objectives of navigation efficiency, ease, safety, and roadway use efficiency are specified. Major decision trade-offs for the display or navigation-related information and the operator control of navigation functions are addressed. When appropriate, design recommendations are made based on the current state of human factors knowledge. For every case, major underlying human factors concerns associated with various design alternatives are discussed.

Human Factors Issues Associated with in-Car Navigation System Usage An Overview of Two in-Car Experimental Studies

Two research studies were recently performed to evaluate and test human factors aspects of a commercially available in-car navigation system. The first study addressed the driver visual attentional demand requirements of the system and its effects on driving performance and behavior. The second study addressed the effectiveness of the system as a navigation tool as well as methodological aspects of navigation. The results of the first study indicate that several tasks performed during navigation required high visual attentional demand. Design changes are discussed which would likely reduce this demand. The results of the second study indicate that drivers are able to navigate effectively using the device. However, results also show that scan patterns are changed when the device is in-use.

Driver Performance Results from the Travtek IVHS Camera Car Evaluation Study

The TravTek system constitutes a major Intelligent Vehicle-Highway System (IVHS) Advanced Traveler Information System (ATIS) demonstration project. The system provided in-vehicle information via color touchscreen CRT, steering wheel buttons, and synthesized voice. The TravTek driver interface was developed with the intent of providing navigation, service and attractions, and roadway incident and traffic information to the driver. The design of the TravTek interface had as its primary objectives: (1) more effective driver navigation providing the benefit of saving time, (2) easy access to valuable and convenient location information to alleviate stress and increase driving enjoyment, (3) maintenance of safe driving performance during system use and safety improvement facilitated by information for avoiding hazards and for emergency response, and (4) improvement of roadway efficiency to alleviate congestion. This paper provides detailed data regarding driver performance and behavioral interactions with four TravTek navigation configurations and two conventional methods of navigation: a paper map and a textual direction list. The results indicate that turn-by-turn information, regardless of its method of presentation, results in effective driving and navigation performance. A moving map display with no supplemental information required high visual attention relative to the other conditions. The other TravTek conditions resulted in lower workload superior navigation performance than the paper map control condition.

Human Factors Research Recommendations for the Development of Design Guidelines for Advanced Traveler Information Systems

This paper describes the outcome of a comprehensive literature review specifically conducted to assess research relevant to the design of advanced traveler information systems (ATIS) for automotive and commercial vehicle use. The goal of the literature review was to identify existing human factors guidelines applicable to the design of ATIS and gaps in the research precluding the development of comprehensive human factors guidelines for ATIS applications. A summary of ATIS research findings and research gaps is presented. Through presentation of both research findings and research gaps, it is hoped that interest will be sparked and focus will be provided for researchers in this growing application of human factors. Given the criticality of ATIS applications (both in terms of driver safety and public acceptance) and the visibility that will be provided to the human factors community from participation in ATIS design, human factors research leading to comprehensive and usable guidelines is extremely important.

The Effects of Area Familiarity and Navigation Method on ATIS Use

This paper describes the driver performance and behavioral interaction results of a comparison between visitors to a major city (Orlando) and local drivers while using differing navigation configurations of an Advanced Traveler Information System (ATIS). The system utilized for the study was TravTek, a device which provided in-vehicle information via color touch screen CRT, steering wheel buttons, and synthesized voice. The TravTek driver interface was developed with the intent of providing navigation, service and attractions, and roadway incident and traffic information to the driver. Both visitors and local users tested six different navigation-aid configurations. The six navigation-aids included: static turn-by-turn graphics and a moving map both with and without voice, a paper map and a textual direction list. The research showed that visitors drove more cautiously, but they made more glances to the navigation-aids when compared to local users. In addition, visitors went off-route and got lost less frequently than local users. Visitors apparently were more careful in driving and navigating to their destinations.