THE EFFECT OF HUD WARNING LOCATION ON DRIVER RESPONSES

This study investigated the effect of head-up display (HUD) location on response time and detection probability of HUD warnings. Twenty-four subjects, sitting in a driving simulator, watched a projected videotape of driving in traffic on a real road. The subjects pressed a key whenever they detected predetermined events in the road scene (passing cars, leading car signals, or road signs). In addition, the subjects pressed a key when a warning triangle appeared on the HUD at one of 15 locations. Response times to HUD warnings, and detection probability, varied with warning location. The mean response times ranged from 842 to 1390 ms with the fastest response time 5 degrees to the right of the center. The HUD task did not significantly interfere with detection of road events. When the HUD task was added to the driving task, response times to car signals increased only slightly (from 1175 to 1260 ms) and the detection probability did not change. (A*) For the covering abstract see ITRD E110327.