A considerable amount of visual attention to the environment is consumed by the search for street signs or other landmarks. This is assumed to be less pronounced with use of a navigating system. An experimental car was used which was fitted with equipment to measure eye movements and the CARIN built-in navigation system was used as a navigation aid. Two different driving courses were chosen and subjects drove with either conventional navigation or system-aided navigation. Following the drive, subjects filled in a questionnaire about the route driven. The evaluation of the eye movement data indicates that the navigation system used in urban traffic, results in much lower visual demand in driving. Subjective evaluation found use of the system less strenuous than conventional navigation. (A)
Abstract