Heads-Up Displays In Cars Can Hinder Driver Safety

[HardOCP News]

According to a new study, instead of helping drivers, HUDs could actually be a threat to safety.

According to the study, published last month in PLoS ONE, the question of how our brains deal with dividing our visual attention between spatially commingled information isn't currently well understood. Rather, most studies have looked at how divided attention works when performing a single task that requires us to get visual information from two distinct spatial locations (i.e., looking down at an infotainment display and then at the road). The researchers wanted to get a better idea of how commingled division of visual attention works in practice, using a simulation of an augmented reality HUD to do so.

 

[mrpc9886]

You mean bright shiny things are a distraction? Derp, really? It takes a study to discover that a driver in a car on a public roadway isn't functionally the same as a fighter pilot in a dogfight?

So anytime you see someone driving a car with a cellphone in their hand and anything hanging off the rear view mirror, you can pretty much assume they're an idiot because their distractability quotient is maxed out.

Yeah....let's add in a HUD to the mix.

 

[Ididar]

Yep, it is pretty much a no-brainer. People think they're brilliant at multi-tasking but the reality is that the brain doesn't work that way and they're dangerous as heck on the road because of it.

 

[Ashbringer]

You mean bright shiny things are a distraction? Derp, really? It takes a study to discover that a driver in a car on a public roadway isn't functionally the same as a fighter pilot in a dogfight?

So anytime you see someone driving a car with a cellphone in their hand and anything hanging off the rear view mirror, you can pretty much assume they're an idiot because their distractability quotient is maxed out.

Yeah....let's add in a HUD to the mix.

I maybe wrong but isn't a HUD that thing you see on the Windshield of your car? You know so you don't have to look away rom the road while driving? Things like speed, gas, and basically stuff you tend to look at the cluster for which pulls your eyes away from the road.

Aren't we being a bit anal about drivers and distractions? How about removing billboards, especially since now they animate and play videos on them. I need Adblock for driving. But it's a distraction cause that's the whole point of billboards.

 

[Yakk]

More distractions,like there isn't enough of them.... Already see soooo many rear-end accidents in traffic from people bored and fiddling with phones & dashes would be funny if not so expensive to fix. Bumpers are really fragile these days, especially below 15C.

I need Adblock for driving.

I'm at the point I'd pay good money for that to.

 

[Draktharbar]

I never thought about it before, but driving with a HUD is a lot like raid healing in WoW. You have to keep constant attention on your surroundings so you don't stand in stuff and kill yourself/others. And you have to keep track of your UI to make sure no one dies. I can say absolutely that you want to eliminate all extraneous information to keep from being distracted. It does take a significant time to get used to a particular UI, but after a while it's much easier to take in all the information at once.

 

[Quix]

I'm not too surprised. Car manufacturers keep adding unnecessary junk to cars that does nothing but distract the driver. They're going to force government intervention by making it utterly ridiculous.

 

[NickJames]

Seriously? People are this afraid of cars with HUDs? We already look down to play with phones, touch the radio, change the A/C, look at our gauges. How does having all those things on a mirror WHERE WE CAN SEE THE ROAD WE'RE DRIVING ON impede our ability to drive?

 

[Ducman69]

Complete and utter nonsense. Everyone supporting this has not driven in a C6 with a HUD, its really difficult to go back to driving without it, as it allows you to keep your eyes on the road at all times while seeing your speed, RPMs, etc.

HUDs are inexpensive enough now that there is no excuse for every car not to have them, and they are fricken fantastic.

The only argument I would accept is that a HUD would be a distraction if it wasn't relaying information that is critical to the driving task... like say a HUD that shows you text messages from friends. But a HUD GPS, or speed, RPM, etc is great and looking down and changing your focus is whats more distracting.

 

[Ramses]

GM had an early HUD in production in the mid or late 90's, Grand Prix GTP had it, or was optional, seems like some Lumina or such I remember seeing too. Had a frosted spot on the windscreen it reflected on. It's nothing new at any rate, just never really caught on.
Seemed to work ok to me. So do well designed and positioned regular gauges.
There have also been aftermarket units available for ages of varying quality.

I think they are running out of things to do to/with cars, and the performance and such is universally so good these days, it's adding fluff time to look new and exciting.

 

[Ducman69]

GM had an early HUD in production in the mid or late 90's, Grand Prix GTP had it, or was optional, seems like some Lumina or such I remember seeing too.

Early 90s was the first generation, it was the second generation that was the claim to fame though, and that was the late 90s.

Whats great about the HUD is that you don't have to move your eyes as much, or focus them so extremely as when looking down at a dash, which really does take your eyes off the road for a moment.

There's a reason that military aircraft use HUDs, even though the pilots have those same instruments lower on their dash... its just 100% more effective to use the HUD, to the point that the gauges on the dash are really just backup.

If they in any way REDUCED the flying ability of the pilot, they sure as hell wouldn't spend the money on them, so clearly the fact is that if you're not worried about costs, HUDs are a no-brainer. And for cars, a basic HUD costs far less than a useless sunroof that everyone seems to love (which ends up just breaking seven years later and leaking anyway).

 

[Ramses]

I suspect, like so many things, the issue is a lot of people are just not very good at a lot of things.
No doubt military pilots using HUD's are a little above the bar of the average driver, and certainly have more training. Not saying HUD's are bad at all, just that lots of people suck at lots of things, often.

I'd rather have the augmented reality tech built in something other than the car myself. Like, I dunno, Google Glass? lol... Wouldn't take much to be able to see "through" blind spots, or fog, etc, etc. The possibilities are extensive and again something you see in aircraft, but I have my doubts that the average jerk or jerkette is going to be able to effectively use them. Engineering and progress catering to the lowest common denominator is such a drag sometimes.

 

[Ocean]

I once ran a red light because i was reading a billboard about not running red lights.

/genuine

 

[gathagan]

The issue is novelty.

Right now, HUD's are a distraction because they are different than what people normally use.
Once they're more ubiquitous and the novelty goes away, the HUD has the potential of being superior to the current dashboard/LCD displays.

Ironically, you see this dynamic at work with external signals.
The central 3rd brake light on the back of vehicles was very noticeable when first deployed.
As time goes on, the novelty wears off and the effectiveness is reduced.

The big caveat:
Manufacturers will need to avoid the temptation of putting too much information on the HUD.
The HUD needs to have minimal content in order to be effective without being a distraction.
As others have alluded, our self-opinion with regard to the ability to multi-task is vastly over-rated.
As such, a HUD that is too busy will remain a distraction even when it's no longer a novelty.

The other concern:
Can HUD's remain effective in bright light conditions?
If not, they defeat their purpose and become a hazard.

 

[Ashbringer]

Complete and utter nonsense. Everyone supporting this has not driven in a C6 with a HUD, its really difficult to go back to driving without it, as it allows you to keep your eyes on the road at all times while seeing your speed, RPMs, etc.

HUDs are inexpensive enough now that there is no excuse for every car not to have them, and they are fricken fantastic.

I have a C5 and the glass cracked cause of a rock that spit up from someones tire and hit it. Not the first for me but HUD glass costs $1300. Regular glass is cheap, and from what I hear it works just fine for HUD display. Haven't replaced it yet but I'm considering the cheap glass.

 

[McFry]

Pretty sure the only people harping against HUDs, especially those of you here, are just people who have never seen or used one before, which has become the norm on this site.

I had the opportunity to test one in a new camaro and I thought it was pretty cool. What I didnt expect was how the image was projected out to infinity or whatever. It looked like it was floating in mid air past the hood of my car, so basically my eyes were able to focus on it and the road at the same time. It was very easy to tune out, and very easy to focus on. You could basically toggle your eyes back and forth way faster than you ever could with a GPS screen, radio knob, etc.

And as someone else mentioned, if it's good enough for the military it's good enough for me.

 

[evilsofa]

I maybe wrong but isn't a HUD that thing you see on the Windshield of your car? You know so you don't have to look away rom the road while driving? Things like speed, gas, and basically stuff you tend to look at the cluster for which pulls your eyes away from the road.

Pulling your focus away from the road is just as bad as pulling your eyes away from the road. Car HUD makers should research subtle UI elements that convey info to you without taking your eyes or focus from the road. Less is more. No numbers or letters. The picture you posted is way, way too much distraction and I would never attempt to drive with it.

How about removing billboards, especially since now they animate and play videos on them. I need Adblock for driving. But it's a distraction cause that's the whole point of billboards.

It would be nice if you could create a UI that covered over billboards with a non-distracting pattern by projecting on your windshield. The big gotcha here is successfully separating billboards out from legitimate road signs, as well as not blocking out anything else between you and the billboards, with a zero failure rate. I truly do not believe this can ever be done.

 

[Ducman69]

The picture you posted is way, way too much distraction and I would never attempt to drive with it.

*facepalm* You sure are confident, not having so much as sat in the car, yet alone driven it. Sigh...

The picture is marketing material to show off the HUD. It doesn't display in the middle of your field of view like that, and in fact you can aim it up or down as you see fit. Realistically, it looks like this:

And yes, it takes a hell of a lot less time to view your speed or RPMs on the HUD than it does to take your eyes completely off the road, look down, refocus your eyes, and check the dash.

 

[KarsusTG]

I was against HUD's in cars until I actually got a car that had one. Now I would rather they be in every vehicle.

Also it has made me more aware of just how much I have to move my head to look at my spedometer on my motorcycle. I basically have to look at the middle of the tank / straight down. I would love to have a small spedo on my helmet visor.

 

[sfsuphysics]

The picture is marketing material to show off the HUD. It doesn't display in the middle of your field of view like that, and in fact you can aim it up or down as you see fit. Realistically, it looks like this:
<snip>

And yes, it takes a hell of a lot less time to view your speed or RPMs on the HUD than it does to take your eyes completely off the road, look down, refocus your eyes, and check the dash.

I realize you can't accurately gauge based on the picture, but there's next to zero focus time needed to read the speedometer with a glance down, numbers are large, and by in far most people who've driven the same car for a while knows what speed it is based on where the arm is pointing. My Prius has a very large number display on the dash right below the windshield, the closest thing to having a HUD without it being on the window I guess.

That picture though, it took a lot more effort to focus on the data, just because it's in the same field of view doesn't mean it's less of a hassle to focus, especially when it's that small (Plus the contrast with the background could play issues as well). And this might be a bit of a stretch, but it wouldn't surprise me if having something that is constantly changing in your field of view like that might be a distraction to the point that you start to ignore changes in your field of view.

 

[Ducman69]

That picture though, it took a lot more effort to focus on the data, just because it's in the same field of view doesn't mean it's less of a hassle to focus,

No, it doesn't, and yes it is much less of a hassle, which again is why the military relies on them when they have the exact same gauges on their dash.

 

[sfsuphysics]

You can talk military aircraft until you're blue in the face, fact of the matter is military aircraft have HUDs primarily because there's so much information that needs to be accessed at a moment notice, and in that regards it is extremely useful to have it all in the same direction as where you're flying.

For me, that LCD light blue on a partially black roadway, is a lot harder to focus on and see clearly, than white letters that are crisp against a jet black background. I already said it might be the picture that's doing it, but you're not going to convince me otherwise.

 

[Ducman69]

For me, that LCD light blue on a partially black roadway, is a lot harder to focus on and see clearly

The picture you saw on the internet is a lot harder to focus and see... *bangs head on table*

but you're not going to convince me otherwise.

There's pig headed, and then there's this... lmfao! Well, I'm glad your expert analysis of pictures precludes you from actually even trying something before digging in your heels and entrenching yourself in a position.

 

[BroHamBone]

Talking about field of view, im tall and that damn rear view mirror is in my way i have to duck to look around it.

 

[sfsuphysics]

The picture you saw on the internet is a lot harder to focus and see... *bangs head on table*

Which I stated in my very first post, so lay back on the disgust will you?

There's pig headed, and then there's this... lmfao! Well, I'm glad your expert analysis of pictures precludes you from actually even trying something before digging in your heels and entrenching yourself in a position.

And then there's not being able to comprehend, here let me quote what you just did of mine.

but you're not going to convince me otherwise.

let me emphasize that 2nd word there (contraction of 2 words). YOU'RE, you see when used in that sentence as a whole it's specifically applying the argument to anything that YOU are saying. So what that means is that YOU continuing to hit reply and type shit, isn't going to change my mind. That doesn't mean me experiencing it first hand in a test drive, or in another persons car, won't change my mind, it means that YOU, right now, in this thread, are not going to dazzle me with words to the point of me saying "Well geeze, that Ducman character sure makes some good points, I'm sure glad he continued to press and win this internet argument."

 

[Ramses]

Talking about field of view, im tall and that damn rear view mirror is in my way i have to duck to look around it.

I've known more than a few people with tall torso's that removed the rvm or remounted a shallower one. The other solution is find shorter seats.

 

[Ducman69]

Which I stated in my very first post, so lay back on the disgust will you?

Well, a rational person wouldn't so profoundly and confidently state that they are sure its a distraction sight unseen, and when people that actually have... yeah, first hand experience from years of use... say that you're wrong, a reasonable person would admit they don't have a clue what they are talking about from staring at some pixels on their monitor and would at least own up to their ignorance and sit down in a dealership and look at it in person... or stop talking at the very least.

 

[Ducman69]

Talking about field of view, im tall and that damn rear view mirror is in my way i have to duck to look around it.

Yeah, this is really bad on the Fiat 500 in particular I picked up. I couldn't find an adapter that would let you change the elevation, or just a smaller mirror.

My ideal setup would be a high resolution LCD instead of a mirror, wired to a nice little 4K camera in the back. That way you can never be blinded by drivers behind you that have their lights misaligned, it would be far more useful as a backup camera, there's no possibility of passengers or cargo obstructing your rear view, you can go with limo tint in the back no problem, and you could mount it somewhere more useful than to the right on the vehicle centerline and instead perhaps on the top left near the A-pillar and roof.

On the Vette for example, you could mount it right above where the glass even ends, so you obstruct none of your forward vision.

 

[McFry]

The fundamental problem here is people dont know what a HUD really looks like. They thing it's a 2D image projected on a piece of glass (which it is but i'll explain later) that is akin to looking at a 2D image on a GPS screen or cellphone. In their imagination they see no difference between glancing at a screen or glancing at a HUD.

The thing about HUD's is that they make the image float at a distance. It does not feel like looking at a screen, it feels like looking into space, so much so that your eyes dont even feel like they are refocusing on anything. When your eyes dart between a speed limit sign on the road, a lane divider, and the car ahead of you, they had to change focus 3 times in rapid succession. The difference is all 3 of these elements were "out there" at a distance requiring less focus time then if you suddenly look at a piece of paper right in front of your eyes. It takes less time to look at a sign on the road than a sign in your car even if both are the same size. Thats how a HUD works. Your eyes can immediately focus back and forth from it and still utilize your peripheral vision without compromise.

It's just one of those things you'll never be able to understand until you see it. So for those of you who havent, you really need to shut the fuck up.

 

[evilsofa]

Your eyes can immediately focus back and forth from it and still utilize your peripheral vision without compromise.

It's just one of those things you'll never be able to understand until you see it. So for those of you who havent, you really need to shut the fuck up.

The study that began this thread finds that driver safety is compromised when using a HUD.

 

[Armenius]

I would love to have a HUD. Being as tall as I am, the gauge cluster is completely out of my view when focusing on the road, meaning to check my speed and other gauge information I'd have to take my focus completely on the road. As a result I rely way too heavily on cruise control in my normal city driving, which is another risk in and of itself.

The study that began this thread finds that driver safety is compromised when using a HUD.

The study also didn't apply a practical application of a real HUD in use. It seems like it's more attacking the picture of a theoretical HUD that they show at the top of the article, which is more like what you would see in a video game. So no, this study does not prove what it set out to find.

Spence and his students conducted two experiments that required participants to perform a primary task where they needed to pay attention over a wide field of view, something one needs to do when driving. The first involved counting or estimating the number of black spots flashed up on a screen. At unpredictable intervals, the participants would also have to perform a second task—detecting a square also flashed on the screen somewhere within that field of view. The second experiment used the same primary task, but it used triangles, squares, and diamond shapes as a secondary stimulus, asking the participants to identify which shape they saw (in addition to having seen it).

During the first experiment, participants became less accurate at estimating the number of spots on the screen as the number increased beyond four, but this wasn't affected by the presence or absence of the square (the secondary task). However, in tests where the square did show up, reaction times went up by almost half a second on average (both the time needed to estimate the number of spots and to determine if the square was present or not). The second experiment revealed an even bigger increase in reaction time when participants had to correctly identify one of three possible shapes, particularly as the number of spots (the primary task) increased.

How does picking out and identifying random objects that appear and disappear in your field of view in fractions of a second have anything to do with driving? HUD information is constant. Road signage is easy to identify and to quickly disseminate because they were designed that way and we're trained to do so.

 

[NickJames]

I would love to have a HUD. Being as tall as I am, the gauge cluster is completely out of my view when focusing on the road, meaning to check my speed and other gauge information I'd have to take my focus completely on the road. As a result I rely way too heavily on cruise control in my normal city driving, which is another risk in and of itself.

The study also didn't apply a practical application of a real HUD in use. It seems like it's more attacking the picture of a theoretical HUD that they show at the top of the article, which is more like what you would see in a video game. So no, this study does not prove what it set out to find.

How does picking out and identifying random objects that appear and disappear in your field of view in fractions of a second have anything to do with driving? HUD information is constant. Road signage is easy to identify and to quickly disseminate because they were designed that way and we're trained to do so.

Wow that's their idea of a test? Playing pong while driving? Jesus, science is getting lazy.

 

[Justintoxicated]

speedometer and GPS would be great to have in a HUD. Otherwise I'm taking my eyes off the road to read them.

 

[Neslepax]

I own a 2004 Grand Prix GTP with the HUD. One of the selling points was that it included this feature. I completely agree with McFry's explanation of what the HUD is like in a visual sense. There is no refocusing needed and it does not obstruct anything in front of me. The device itself comes with vertical adjustment so that it can be moved to where you are comfortable with it. For me, it is just below where my eyes typically focus. I typically don't even need to glance at it to see my speed, since peripheral vision is more than enough to see it. While I do agree that some sort of HUD might go overboard with useless information that might be a distraction, that is not the typical case, nor does it need to be. I would argue that modern vehicles with LCD displays in the dashboard that can program everything from navigation to song selection are far more distracting. Projecting my speed and direction in an easier spot to see? Not so much.