Thesis (M.S.)--Ohio University, August, 2002. / Title from PDF t.p.

Dissertation (Ph.D.) - Simon Fraser University, 2006. / Theses (School of Kinesiology) / Simon Fraser University. Includes bibliographical references. Also issued in digital format and available on the World Wide Web.

Head-up displays convey important information to the viewer: from time and weather conditions to GPS navigation and proactive danger alerts. This information can be key to significantly improving driving experience from merely making it more enjoyable to saving lives. Taking its roots in the military field,  Augmented Reality Head-Up Displays (AR HUD) is now being piloted and commercialised for upper-class consumers, such as the new Mercedes S-Class. It is easy to imagine how companies would want to take the next step and make these technologies even more accessible. However, one of the main challenges of diffusing these solutions lie within flaws of its visual design that can be perceived as distracting or exhausting. The purpose of this article has been to investigate the perception drivers have on AR HUDs aesthetic design and identify three areas for improvement: "style-cleaningness", flexible colour scheme and optimal positioning. This has been done through interviews and analysing the answers. Together with the answers and related research I have drawn conclusions and made suggestions of improvement. The results indicate a positive opinion of the technology and the potential it has for driver safety.

Drivers require a steady stream of relevant but focused visual input to make decisions. Most driving information comes from the surrounding environment so keeping drivers' eyes on the road is paramount. However, important information still comes from in-vehicle displays. With this in mind, there has been renewed recent interest in delivering driving in-formation via head-up display. A head-up display (HUD) can present an image directly on-to the windshield of a vehicle, providing a relatively seamless transition between the display image and the road ahead. Most importantly, HUD use keeps drivers' eyes focused in the direction of the road ahead. The transparent display coupled with a new location make it likely that HUDs provide a fundamentally different driving experience and may change the way people drive, in both good and bad ways. Therefore, the objectives of this work were to 1) understand changes in drivers' glance behaviors when using different types of displays, 2) investigate the impact of HUD position on glance behaviors, and 3) examine the impact of HUD graphic type on drivers' behaviors. Specifically, we captured empirical data regarding changes in driving behaviors, glance behaviors, reported workload, and preferences while driving performing a secondary task using in-vehicle displays. We found that participants exhibited different glance behaviors when using different display types, with participants allocating more and longer glances towards a HUD as compared to a traditional Head-Down Display. However, driving behaviors were not largely affected and participants reported lower workload when using the HUD. HUD location did not cause large changes in glance behaviors, but some driving behaviors were affected. When exam-ining the impact of graphic types on participants, we employed a novel technique for ana-lyzing glance behaviors by dividing the display into three different areas of interest relative to the HUD graphic. This method allowed us to differentiate between graphic types and to better understand differences found in driving behaviors and participant preferences than could be determined with frequently used glance analysis methods. Graphics that were fixed in place rather than animated generally resulted in less time allocated to looking at the graphics, and these changes were likely because the fixed graphics were simple and easy to understand. Ultimately, glance and driving behaviors were affected at some level by the display type, display location, and graphic type as well as individual differences like gender and age. / Ph. D. / Drivers gather most of the information that they need to drive by looking at the world around them and at displays within the vehicle. However, research has shown that looking down at vehicle displays can be distracting to drivers which could be unsafe. Therefore, automotive manufacturers look for new ways to help decrease driver distraction, and one potential solution to this problem is the introduction of head-up displays (HUDs). By displaying a graphic on a see-through surface, like a windshield, we can add information to the world in front of the driver. This means that drivers no longer have to physically look away from the road to gather information, and they may be able to use peripheral vision to help drive while they look at the display. While the technology is promising, it is important that we fully understand other impacts of this technology on drivers before we widely incorporate it into vehicles. Therefore, the purpose of this work is to understand how HUDs change drivers’ ability to drive and their glance patterns as they gather the visual information needed to drive safely. We examined differences between HUDs and traditional displays found in vehicles. We then gathered data regarding the location of HUDs. Finally, we tested different graphics displayed on the HUD. In addition to gathering data about glance and driving behaviors, we also gathered data about drivers’ preferences and experiences with the displays. HUDs may tempt drivers to look away from the road for longer periods of time without negatively affecting their driving behaviors. Different HUD locations did not cause large differences in glance behaviors but did have some impact on driving behaviors. Finally, different graphics resulted in very different glance behaviors without significantly changing driving behaviors. These results suggest that HUDs may capture drivers’ attention and cause drivers to be less observant of other elements around them as they drive. However, because different graphics result in different glance patterns, with careful design we may be able to help drivers keep their eyes on the road while safely gathering necessary information from the vehicle.

The interactions with everyday products and technology are often done without being noticed or reflected upon. Interactions driving a vehicle are happening automatically for most people when having experience driving. With the innovative shift within the automotive industry toward connectivity and autonomous driving, new demands on the interaction and communication between humans and machines are created.   This thesis project was carried out in collaboration with Volvo Cars and the Research Institute of Sweden (RISE) within their joint research project SCREENS. Their project aims to investigate whether implementing Augmented Reality in Head-Up Displays (AR-HUD), and other vehicle technologies can benefit users in perceiving and understanding the environment when driving. Misapplied technology may result in users misperceiving visual information causing faulty decision making resulting in accidents and interaction errors. Their research objective implementing automotive technology benefitting safer driving, better cars, and competitive advantages for Volvo Cars. This thesis objective was to design visual information for a navigation feature in AR-HUD and implement the graphics into a Volvo XC60 concept car. The implemented graphics were then evaluated with users operating the vehicle in realistic environments. The results were analyzed to investigate if positive perceptual, attentional, and safety aspects using AR-HUD could be indicated. The project aim was to design and explore the user interactions resulting in valuable insights from an industrial design engineering perspective for future research.   The thesis project had a human-centered design approach following a modified version of the iterative cycle for human-centered design process. Stages of ideating, implementing, evaluating, and analyzing were iterated two times during the twenty-week project. The user experiences from interacting with the system were fundamental during the project, relating design decisions to qualitative and quantitative data collected during evaluations.   From the user evaluations could indications be found that AR-HUD aided the driver in keeping their eyes on the road more frequently using AR guidance compared to traditional HUD guidance. Aspects to consider when designing visual navigation information were found and related to relevant theory about visual perception and human information processing. The most critical aspect regarding the implementation of visual information was the timing of when graphics appear. Qualitative and quantitative data collected indicated that easily perceived information presented at the right time and duration was the most important aspect to consider when creating human-machine interfaces providing good user interactions. / Interaktioner med vardagliga produkter och teknik görs ofta utan att de uppmärksammas och reflekteras över. Att köra bil är en interaktion med ett fordon som för många människor sker automatiskt tack vare erfarenhet användarna har att köra bil. Med det innovativa skiftet inom fordonsindustrin mot uppkopplingsbara och självkörande fordon skapar nya krav på interaktionerna och kommunikationen mellan människan och maskinen.   Detta examensarbete genomfördes i samarbete med Volvo Cars och Research Institute of Sweden (RISE) inom deras gemensamma forskningsprojekt SCREENS. Deras projekt syftar till att undersöka implementeringen av förstärkt verklighet i Head-Up-displayer (AR-HUD) samt andra fordonsteknologier och om det kan gynna användare när de uppfattar och förstår miljön när de kör bil. Feltillämpad teknik kan leda till att användare missuppfattar visuell information, vilket orsakar felaktigt beslutsfattande som leder till olyckor och interaktionsfel. Deras forskningsmål är att implementera fordonsteknik som gynnar säkrare körning, bättre bilar och konkurrensfördelar för Volvo Cars. Målet med detta examensarbete var att designa visuell information för en navigeringsfunktion i AR-HUD och implementera grafiken i en Volvo XC60 konceptbil. Den implementerade grafiken utvärderades sedan med användare som körde fordonet i realistiska miljöer. Resultaten analyserades för att undersöka om positiva perceptuella, uppmärksamhets- och säkerhetsaspekter med AR-HUD kunde indikeras. Projektets syfte var att designa och utforska användarinteraktionerna resulterande i värdefulla insikter ur ett industridesigntekniskt perspektiv för framtida forskning.   Examensarbetet hade en användarcentrerad designstrategi och har följt en modifierad version av designprocessen iterativa cykeln för användarcentrerad design. Stadier av idégenerering, implementering, utvärdering och analys upprepades två gånger under det tjugo veckor långa projektet. Användarnas erfarenheter från interaktionen med systemet var central under projektet och designbeslut baserades på kvalitativa och kvantitativa data som samlats in under användarutvärderingarna.   Från användarutvärderingarna upptäcktes indikationer att AR-HUD hjälpte förare att hålla ögonen på vägen mer när de använde AR-vägledning, jämfört med traditionell HUD-vägledning. Aspekter att beakta vid design av visuell navigeringsinformation hittades och relaterades till relevant teori om visuell perception och mänsklig informationsbehandling. Den viktigaste aspekten som indikerades när det gäller implementeringen av visuell information var timingen för när grafik visas. Kvalitativa och kvantitativa data som samlats in visade att lättuppfattad information presenterad vid rätt tidpunkt och varaktighet var den viktigaste aspekten att ta hänsyn till när man skapar gränssnitt för kommunikationen mellan människa och maskin som resulterar i bra användarinteraktioner.