<p>At night, the visibility is reduced and the demands on the driver increase. A safety system that enables the driver to discover warmer objects in the surroundings when the visibility are reduced, such as the Vision Enhancement System (VES) contributes to safer night-time driving. Since the benefits of this system are established, it is of interest to investigate different design aspects. The VES display has in earlier studies been positioned in front of the driver but different display positions such as peripheral placement should be evaluated. </p><p>The present simulator study is an investigation of the effects of different display positions inside the car. Two different display positions were investigated, in front of the driver and to the right of the driver. When driving with a display positioned to the right, the driver will have to divide his attention between the road scene and the display by turning his head or he might be able to use peripheral vision. It was hypothesised that there would be significant differences in driving performance between the two display positions in favour of the display position above the steering wheel. </p><p>The results were measured in driving performance as well as opinions from the participants. Results show that there were some significant differences and several tendencies of better driving performance when driving with the display in front of the driver. The participants also rated this display as being better positioned and effecting the driving in a more positive way than the display to the right. It was therefore concluded that that the most preferred display position is in front of the driver.</p>

At night, the visibility is reduced and the demands on the driver increase. A safety system that enables the driver to discover warmer objects in the surroundings when the visibility are reduced, such as the Vision Enhancement System (VES) contributes to safer night-time driving. Since the benefits of this system are established, it is of interest to investigate different design aspects. The VES display has in earlier studies been positioned in front of the driver but different display positions such as peripheral placement should be evaluated. The present simulator study is an investigation of the effects of different display positions inside the car. Two different display positions were investigated, in front of the driver and to the right of the driver. When driving with a display positioned to the right, the driver will have to divide his attention between the road scene and the display by turning his head or he might be able to use peripheral vision. It was hypothesised that there would be significant differences in driving performance between the two display positions in favour of the display position above the steering wheel. The results were measured in driving performance as well as opinions from the participants. Results show that there were some significant differences and several tendencies of better driving performance when driving with the display in front of the driver. The participants also rated this display as being better positioned and effecting the driving in a more positive way than the display to the right. It was therefore concluded that that the most preferred display position is in front of the driver.