OCCLUSION AS A TECHNIQUE FOR EVALUATING IN-CAR DISPLAYS. IN: ENGINEERING PSYCHOLOGY AND COGNITIVE ERGONOMICS. AEROSPACE AND TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS

New in-vehicle information and communication systems are widely used and available. The intended purpose of such aids is increased convenience and operating safety. The paper questions whether these systems produce information overload which could have negative effects on driving safety, and suggests a need for a method for the evaluation of design concepts already in early stages. Described is occlusion technique which allows to experimentally control the time intervals during which visual stimuli are visible and non-visible, and provides different measures of task performance. The paper provides results of tests showing the validity of the occlusion technique to discriminate between simple and complex version of visual displays as well as its suitability to investigate the impacts of dialogue interruption on task performance.