Measurement of Drivers Visual Attention Capabilities Using Real-Time UFOV Method
This paper proposes a new real-time method to measure the drivers useful field of view (UFOV) while driving a car in ordinary traffic situations in an urban environment. This is called the real-time useful field of view (rUFOV) method to discriminate it from conventional UFOV measurement, which is typically performed offline and with laboratory equipment developed by Visual Awareness Inc. The proposed real-time method first tracks traffic objects that appear in the drivers peripheral vision using a road video camera, checks the degree of the drivers attention to these objects using a driver monitoring camera, and finally calculates the percentage reduction in the drivers UFOV using a database acquired over an extended period of time. Preliminary results showed better performance than originally expected. The rUFOV method was then incorporated into a driving simulation environment to enable more precise measurement of the drivers gaze angle. This enabled the performance of safer tests for identifying conditions under which mental load reduced the drivers visual capabilities, thus increasing the possibility of hasty driving, as well as the incorporation of more accurate control parameters into simulation software for risky driving scenarios. Consequently, this paper proposes a new methodology for measuring the drivers UFOV as a potential real-time driver support system with automatic intrusive HMI adaptation and immediate alarm functions. The evaluation was conducted in two phases. First, the system was tested in real traffic using typical vehicle equipment and technically worked with a performance level of 81%.In the second phase, more test runs were performed in the simulator environment, which enabled near accident scenarios to be created without risking traffic safety and it was also measured its reaction time..
ufov peripheral vision drivers attention driver support system image processing optical flow