Effects of Auditory Tasks on Functional Visual Field against Dynamic Background

Abstract

The functional visual field (FVF) of target localization against a dynamic background simulating highway driving was precisely measured under four different auditory task conditions to investigate whether conversing on a mobile phone affects a driver’s FVF. The FVF is the visual field in which a person can achieve some kind of visual task, such as target detection or localization. The task conditions were no auditory information, listening to BGM, listening to a simple conversation and understanding it, and listening to a simple question and answering it orally. Individual differences were found in the size of the FVF and the effect of the tasks. The FVF area of the largest subject was twice that of the smallest subject under the same condition. Shrinkage of the FVF was found under the oral answer condition for the two subjects who had never used a mobile phone while driving, while no significant change under any condition was found for the subject who made a long drive every day and was used to talking on a mobile phone while driving. This suggests that conversation can reduce a drivers’ attention and shrink the FVF of some drivers.