The emergence of new technologies and systems to "aid" the driver in safely and efficiently controlling his vehicle has raised numerous questions. One concern is that the proposed benefits of such road transport informatics (RTI) systems intended to aid the future driver may be outweighed by negative effects. Several of these systems are currently available, or under development. These include route guidance, intelligent cruise control, lane support and blind spot detection systems, for example. All will undoubtedly change the driver's task in some way in comparison to the present day. As a result, vehicle manufacturers and others need to be able to assess the potential effects of such systems on drivers to optimise system design. However, there are no current widely acceptable methods for conducting such assessments. This paper reviews the current International Standards Organisation (ISO) activity to develop standards related to the design and evaluation of new RTI systems. In particular the status of a standard method for driver visual demand measurement is described.
Abstract