Changing Drivers’ Behavior

Recent years have seen a remarkable increase in the numerous obstacles encountered by a spectrum of drivers - novice and experienced alike. But eye movement research achieved by the Human Performance Laboratory at UMass Amherst, using eye tracking equipment from Applied Science Laboratories (ASL), has aided in better understanding how to overcome some of these impediments – and has allowed for the exciting development of supplementary drivers’ training courses.

Introduction

At UMass Amherst, a tightly knit team* of students, post doctoral fellows, research scientists and faculty concentrate on studying the actions of drivers of all ages, while offering programs for changing drivers’ behavior. Dr. Donald L. Fisher is the Director of the Human Performance Laboratory and Head of the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering. Members of the team also come from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, the Department of Psychology and the School of Nursing. Understanding attention maintenance, intersection focus, hazard anticipation, speed management and much more have been their areas of research. Eye trackers have assisted in determining where drivers are looking when encountering these situations as well as identified differences between the groups of drivers. And over the years, the team has compiled this research and has published numerous papers on these various subjects.^1,2,3,4

The Challenge

To study the eye movements of their participants, Fisher and his team required a reliable, custom device that would not only rapidly sample fixation location data from the eyes but would also allow them to record these data – making it easier to publish significant results from their findings. To collect all relevant data, researchers recognized that an eye tracking device that could not only be installed in a driving simulator in the lab but that could also be used in real-world testing was imperative. A combination of reputation, a company that had a long standing base of satisfied customers, coupled with reliable and easy-to-use products (easy eye calibration in the field in a car), were crucial in their choice of an eye tracking device.

The Solution

Involved with eye movement research since the 1990s, Fisher was well aware of a company called Applied Science Laboratories, or ASL as it is known, and the caliber of its products. Together the team examined five or so eye trackers, including the ASL Mobile Eye, searching for the appropriate system to use in their research. ASL was the only company that could meet all requirements set by the UMass team – as well as provide an unexpected benefit. UMass soon learned that ASL employed doctor-level scientists that explicitly understood eye tracking – and the scientific and technical confidence of the staff was exactly what the UMass team was looking for in the way of a resource. Hence, their decision to procure the ASL Mobile Eye was straightforward.

“Each and every one of the 20+ students, post doctorate fellows and research scientists who have used the ASL eye tracking system since have been very pleased with how easy it is to learn; how quickly it can be calibrated; and how responsive the ASL staff has been to each of their various questions,” said Dr. Fisher.

The ASL Mobile Eye

Designed for indoor or outdoor use, the ASL Mobile Eye is a truly tether less, compact eye tracking system. The Mobile Eye allows researchers across a multitude of disciplines to collect eye movements and point of gaze information during the performance of natural tasks – allowing the use of unconstrained eye, head and hand movements under variable lighting conditions. The eye tracking optics are extremely lightweight and unobtrusive and the recording device is small enough to be worn on a hip pack. The eye image and scene image are interleaved and saved on a DVCR tape with a recording duration of up to 60 minutes, battery operated, 130 minutes at full charge. The video is then transferred to a laptop (included) that separates the images, does the analysis and creates a scene video with a cursor overlay. Alternatively, for real-time tracking the portable DVCR can be connected directly to the laptop. The sampling rate is 30Hz.

The Implementation

Over the years, the ASL Mobile Eye has been used by the UMass team in a number of studies both in the field and in the lab. But with the increase of the growing popularity of in-vehicle tasks – cell phones, texting, music retrieval operations – and crashes increasing because of these distractions, we’ve selected a recent study soon to be published by the UMass Team, entitled “Evaluation of Different Speech and Touch Interfaces to In-Vehicle Music Retrieval Systems,” to explain how the Mobile Eye has been employed.⁵

The ASL equipment was used to monitor the eye movements of 17 participants between the ages of 18 and 30 using three different music-retrieval systems while driving through a virtual world (see figure 1). Using pupil-corneal reflection as the measurement principle, the Mobile Eye converted the eye position to external point of gaze by overlaying crosshairs on a video of the scene being viewed by the participant. The participants were effortlessly calibrated for the eye tracking device and the eye fixation data were combined with other measures of secondary task performance, vehicle control, and workload findings were recorded.

Fisher stated, “There was no significant downtime in the implementation of the eye tracking equipment in this experiment or others that we have performed. Although products over time, indeed, can have problems, the ASL scientists readily come and assist us, causing any downtime to be resolved quickly.”

Figure 1. University of Massachusetts at Amherst Driving Simulator

The result of this specific research on music retrieval operations indicates that any mechanism that necessitates the combination of ‘touch and visual” interaction multiple times during a normal drive is likely to be hazardous. It suggests that further investigation by lawmakers is essential.

In addition to research on the effects of different types of interfaces on distraction, Fisher and his team are working to deliver free, downloadable training programs to the public. And one such program developed by UMass Amherst researchers is called "Risk Awareness and Perception Training (RAPT) Program." It teaches teen-age drivers how, when and where to anticipate and avoid potentially fatal traffic hazards – and all training is performed through a personal computer.1,2 Continuing to improve this program is one of the team’s goals and they are now working with a major insurance company on an updated version. The program is available at www.ecs.umass.edu/hpl by clicking on "younger drivers."

You can find additional information on other UMass Human Performance Lab papers here.

Other Research Using the ASL Mobile Eye

Fisher and the Human Performance Lab have used and continue to use and rely on the ASL Mobile Eye for numerous research studies involving eye movement tracking. These studies have been funded by a broad spectrum of public and private sector sponsors. Recent sponsors include the National Science Foundation, National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, National Institutes of Health, Massachusetts Department of Transportation, New England University Transportation Center, New England Transportation Consortium, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Nissan Corporation, Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Calplan, State Farm Insurance, Liberty Mutual Foundation for Safety, and the Arbella Insurance Charitable Foundation.

Why ASL?

The ASL Mobile Eye allows the UMass researchers to easily calibrate subjects for the research, collect data and produce solid results. ASL can offer others the ability to configure an eye tracking system around their research requirements as well. ASL has the largest selection of eye tracking products and data analysis tools. Our experienced staff is waiting to discuss your applications, and assist you in the selection of the system that best meets your present and future requirements. For more information, contact Mike Ryan at asl@asleyetracking.com or call directly at 781-275-4000.

*Current and past researchers at the UMass Human Performance Lab who have used the ASL Mobile Eye for their research include the following:

1. Pradhan, A. K., Pollatsek, A., Knodler, M. and Fisher, D. L. (2009). Can younger drivers be trained to scan for information that will reduce their risk in roadway traffic scenarios that are hard to identify as hazardous? Ergonomics, 62, 657-673

2. Pollatsek, A., Narayanaan, V., Pradhan, A., and Fisher, D. L. (2006). The Use of Eye Movements to Evaluate the Effect of PC-Based Risk Awareness Training on an Advanced Driving Simulator. Human Factors, 48, 447-464.

3. Pradhan, A. K., Hammel, K. R., DeRamus, R., Pollatsek, A., Noyce, D. A. and Fisher, D. L (2005). The Use of Eye Movements to Evaluate the Effects of Driver Age on Risk Perception in an Advanced Driving Simulator. Human Factors, 47, 840-852

4. Romoser, M. and Fisher, D. L. (In press). The effect of active versus passive training strategies on improving older drivers’ scanning for hazards while negotiating intersections. Human Factors.

5. Garay-Vega, L., Pradhan, A.K., Weinberg, G., Schmidt-Nielsen, B., Harsham. B., Shen, Y., Divekar, G., Romoser, M., Knodler, M., Fisher, D. L. (In press). Evaluation of different voice and touch interfaces to in-vehicle music retrieval systems. Accident Analysis & Prevention.