Continuous versus Situation-Dependent Night Vision Presentation in Automotive Applications

As the number of advanced driver assistance systems in modern cars increases the question of possible negative behavioral adaptation is raised. We have investigated this phenomenon for night vision systems in a driving simulator. One common opinion is that there is a risk for using the enhanced visual conditions that come with these systems to increase speed during nighttime driving and thereby eliminate the safety margins the system was designed to provide. In our study two system approaches were compared, one with continuous presentation and one with presentation only when dangerous objects were detected by the system. The latter approach was meant to minimize the risk of negative adaptation, which was partly confirmed in the study. Moreover, the results showed better and more consistent driver performance with the situation-dependent system and all subjects preferred this approach from a workload perspective.