Automobile Window Research Articles

Visual-manual feedback mechanism in human vehicular performance.

Abstract This research reports the first experimental cybernetic analysis of the visual manual feedback mechanism in human driving. Cybernetic concepts describe driving behaviour as a dynamic closed-loop feedback-regulated driver-vehicle-road tracking system. Three levels of sensory feedback, reactive, instrumental and operational, are suggested for the functional integration of human motor activities in vehicle operation. The dynamic operational feedback, registered as the spatial difference between the roadway and the positional as well as directional changes of the vehicle in motion, was the main concern of this study. Clear vision of the front and rear ends of an automobile was hypothesized to be a critical and essential factor in human vehicular control and guidance. Three experiments, on backing, parallel parking and forward driving, were designed with both clear and obstructed vision of operational feedback. Results confirmed the theoretical assumptions. The implications of the feedback concepts on driving behaviour are discussed. A behavioural evaluation of current automobile window designs is suggested