Recent research by a number of investigators has shown that there is a relatively consistent pattern in the way that drivers perform in-car tasks. This pattern involves time-sharing and visual sampling between the driving task and the in-car task. The pattern is a result of the need to attend to the primary task of driving while treating the in-car task as a secondary or subsidiary task. The visual resource must therefore be time-shared. The pattern allows development of a model in which parameters are a function of the specific type of in-car task and the current driving demands. Additional factors such as age, panel clutter, and legibility also effect parameter values. The model itself can be adjusted to account for such influences. An initial form of model is presented, along with highlights of the supporting data and effects of various independent variables. The model provides insight into the way that in-car tasks should be designed.
Abstract