Measuring IVIS Impact to Driver by On-road Test and Simulator Experiment

Abstract

This work examined the effects of using in-vehicle information systems (IVIS) on drivers by on-road test and simulator experiment. Twelve participants participated in the test. In on-road test, drivers performed driving task with voice prompt and non-voice prompt navigation device mounted on different position. In simulator experiment, secondary tasks, including cognitive, visual and manual tasks, were performed in a driving simulator. Subjective rating was used to test mental workload of drivers in on-road test and simulator experiment. The impact of task complexity and reaction mode was investigated in this paper. The results of the test and the simulation showed that position 1 was more comfortable than other two positions for drivers and it would cause less mental load. Drivers tend to support this result in subjective rating. IVIS with voice prompt causes less visual demand to drivers. The mental load will grow as the difficulty of the task increasing. The cognitive task on manual reaction causes higher mental load than cognitive task which doesn’t require manual reaction. These results may have practical implications for in-vehicle information system design.