Peripheral Stimuli Without Explanation Can Improve Steering Maneuvers of Human Drivers in Degraded Visual Conditions

A method is presented for enhancing the steering maneuvers of human drivers using peripheral visual information generated based on the vehicle’s lateral positions on the road. Human drivers control vehicles mainly using visual feedback information received from the road. However, such feedback may sometimes become degraded due to various reasons. On the other hand, recent advances in sensory technologies make it possible to detect vehicle behavior on the road quite stably. In this paper, we investigate a way to compensate such impaired feedback using artificial visual stimuli. A series of LED devices were installed in the car’s doors to display the stimuli. We designed three types of illumination patterns (flow, position, and width conditions) that react to the current lateral position of the vehicle. Simulated driving studies were conducted to evaluate the effect of each pattern on the driver’s control of the vehicle. As a result, we found that the presenting the artificial visual stimuli without explanation could significantly reduce inappropriate steering maneuvers in the degraded feedback situations.