Virtual eye height and display height influence visual distraction measures in simulated driving conditions

Glance behaviour towards in-vehicle visual displays is likely not only a result of the design of the display itself, but also influenced by other factors such as the position of the display and characteristics of the surrounding road scene. In the current study, it was hypothesized that both display position and simulator view will affect a driver’s glance behaviour. A simulator study was conducted in which 25 participants drove in a highway scenario while performing three different tasks in a smartphone positioned at two different heights. Two different simulator views used: one corresponding to the view from the driver’s seat of a truck and the other one corresponded to the view from the driver’s seat of a car. A within-group design was used with simulator view, smartphone position, and task as factors. Results showed that type of view and display position to some extent influenced glance behaviour as well as subjective ratings of driving performance. These results may have implications for eye glance measurement procedures as well as for guidelines relating to driver distraction, e.g. that simulated road scenes must correspond to the vehicle class that the device under test is intended for.