Effects of Non-Driving Cognitive Activity on Driver's Eye Movement and Their Individual Difference

This paper investigates effects on driver's eye movement when the driver is distracted by a secondary cognitive task that demands a high mental workload. By observing drivers behavior in a fixed-base driving simulator, we analyze how the time lengths of eye fixations change when a driver is imposed to perform a cognitive secondary task. The results show that two types (Type 1: the number of short fixations increases, Type 2: the number of short fixations decreases) are found. Interestingly, our data show that both types can be seen even in one driver depending on traffic conditions. It is also shown that likelihood of occurring Type 1 or Type 2 effects depends on driver. The data suggest that it is possible to predict which effect is likely to occur for a driver if we analyze his or her eye movement under normal conditions. With these findings, this study developed and improved a driver-adaptable algorithm for detecting the state of being under high mental workload. The results suggest that the time length of an eye fixation can be useful index at least several drivers.