Optical flow and road environments: Implications for ergonomic road design
Gavriel Salvendy, Waldemar Karwowski · 2016
Applied and fundamental studies show that the optical flow generated by observer self-motion impairs other objects motion discrimination. Data from lab studies quantified this effect in function of the visual environment optical flow. However the preceding studies had left space to question the validity of these results in a more realistic driving situation and in the peripheral vision with a driving like situation. A first study using a driving simulator answered the first question, and a second lab study answered the question of knowing if the effect extended to peripheral vision. There was a clear effect of road environment optical flow in the vehicle motion discrimination during a following task procedure. The higher the environment optical flow density worse was the vehicle motion discrimination task. The effect was sharper in this realistic study with driving simulator than in previous lab studies. The discrimination of approaching objects throughout the visual field is slightly impaired but if is added to the task the effect of global optical flow the performance degrades substantially. In conclusion the environment optical flow is an intervening variable in the process of vehicle&s;s motion discrimination during a following task. Study two, strengthened this information showing that optical flow intervenes in the motion discrimination in the peripheral vision. As vehicles motion discrimination is a vital task for drivers, implications for an ergonomic road design can be derived from this study.