The purpose of the project was to investigate the possible effects different horizontal fields of view (FoV) have on driving performance when driving at night with a Vision Enhancement System (VES). The FoV chosen to be examined were 12 degrees and 24 degrees, both displayed on a screen with the horizontal size of 12 degrees FoV. This meant that the different conditions of FoV also had different display ratios 1:1 and 1:2. No effort was made to separate these parameters. A simulator study was performed at the simulator at IKP, Linkoeping University. Sixteen participants in a within-group design participated in the study. The participants drove two road sections - one with 12 degrees FoV and the other with 24 degrees FoV. During each section, four scenarios were presented in which the participants passed one of three types of objects - a moose, a deer or a man. In each section, two of the objects stood right next to the road and two were standing seventeen meters to the right of the road. As the drivers approached the objects standing seventeen meters to the right of the road, the objects moved out of the VES when the vehicle was 200 meters in front of the object with 12 degrees FoV. The objects could be seen with the naked eye when the vehicle was 100 meters in front of the object. When the drivers approached the objects with 24 degrees FoV, the objects moved out of the VES display when it was possible to see them unaided. Results show that a 24 degrees FoV displayed with a 1:2 ratio gives the drivers improved anticipatory control, compared to a 12 degrees FoV displayed with a 1:1 ratio. The participants with a broader FoV were able to make informed decisions whereas with a narrow FoV some participants started to reaccelerate when they could not see an object. Results also show that any difference in recognition distance that may exist between a 12 degrees and a 24 degrees camera angle displayed in a 12 degrees FoV display do not seem to have any adverse effect on the quality of driving. (Author/publisher) The report is available at the internet: http://www.ep.liu.se/exjobb/itn/2002/kts/019/exjobb.pdf.
Samenvatting