Characterization of a new glare source for a driving simulator under varying levels of visibility: A pilot study

Abstract

Purpose : Glare can negatively impact driver’s capabilities. The objective of this research was to conduct a driving simulator study to determine if a new glare source met a 10 to 20% reduction (ISO11979-9:2006) in performance.

Methods : Two visually healthy young males (ages 26 and 28) and two visually healthy older males (ages 49 and 56) performed driving tasks on a DriveSafety CDS-200 driving simulator equipped with: a single high-resolution monitor, spot/coaxial LED lights mounted on each side of the monitor, and a tall back chair with a headrest. The equipment simulated travelling on a straight two-lane rural road (no participant steering required) using cruise control at 55 mph in clear, fog, and glare visibility conditions. Participants responded when they initially detected and when they could positively identify road targets such as pedestrians, animals, barrels, speed limit signs, and route guidance signs. Participant’s performance was measured by the distance from which targets were first detected or identified.

Results : In the clear condition, targets were detected at an average distance of 142.3 m (range 83.6 - 250.4 m) and were identified at an average of 94.2 m (64.8 - 139.0 m). In the fog condition, targets were detected at an average distance of 113.7 m (64.0 - 196.2 m) and were identified at an average of 82.8 m (60.4 - 130.7 m). Comparing the fog to the clear condition, decrements in performance were on average 20.1% for the detect task and 12.1% for the identify task. In the glare condition, targets were detected at an average distance of 113.6 m (52.5 - 223.1 m) and were identified at an average of 81.3 m (55.4 - 132.5 m). Comparing the glare to the clear condition, decrements in performance were on average 20.2% for the detect task and 13.7% for the identify task.

Conclusions : In this pilot study with four participants, in the fog and glare conditions, decrements in performance were greater on the detect task than the identify task. The goal of an average 10-20% decrement in performance on the glare condition was achieved. Future studies should include a larger sample size.

This abstract was presented at the 2019 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Vancouver, Canada, April 28 - May 2, 2019.