L’objectif de cette thèse était d’étudier les fonctions exécutives dans la maladie de Parkinson et leurs implications dans la conduite automobile. Nous avons mesuré séparément les fonctions de flexibilité mentale et de mise à jour par des tests neuropsychologiques et des tâches sur simulateur de conduite. Nous avons fait l’hypothèse que ces fonctions étaient plus altérées chez les patients et que leurs déficits influençaient la performance de conduite. Trois études ont été réalisées : les deux premières sur simulateur et la dernière sur route avec un véhicule instrumenté. Les résultats de la première étude ont montré un déficit de la fonction de mise à jour chez les patients par rapport aux contrôles. La deuxième étude consistait à tester une seconde fois les conducteurs deux ans après la première étude. En deux ans, la fonction de flexibilité s’est dégradée chez les patients, suggérant que les deux fonctions étudiées ont évolué différemment : la mise à jour étant atteinte plus précocement dans la maladie. Les patients déclaraient également avoir restreint leur conduite. Les résultats de la troisième étude sur route ont permis d’identifier les conducteurs parkinsoniens à « risque » d'être dangereux, i.e. ceux ayant le plus de difficultés en conduite (évaluation conjointe de l’expérimentateur et du moniteur d’auto-école). Les conducteurs à « risque » avaient des performances plus faibles aux tests de mise à jour et de flexiblité par rapport aux conducteurs parkinsoniens sécuritaires. L’ensemble de ces travaux mettent en évidence le rôle essentiel de la mise à jour et de la flexibilité mentale dans la conduite automobile chez des personnes atteintes de la maladie de Parkinson. / The objective of this thesis was to investigate executive functions in Parkinson’s disease and their implications on driving. We have chosen to separately assess mental flexibility and updating information in working memory by neuropsychological tests and driving simulator tasks. We tested the hypothesis that these two executive functions were impaired in patients and that their deficits influenced the driving performance. Three studies were realised: the first two used the driving simulator and the last was performed on-road with an instrumented vehicle. Results of the first study have shown an updating impairment in patients compared to controls. The second study consisted of assessing the drivers a second time two years after the first study. In two years, the flexibility function declined in patients, suggesting that the two selected functions did not change in a similar way: updating is affected earlier in the disease than mental flexibility. Also, patients declared to have restricted their driving. Results of the third on-road study allowed us to identify “at-risk” drivers with Parkinson’s disease, that is to say those having the most driving difficulties (assessment from both experimenter and a driving instructor). At-risk drivers had poorer performances in updating and flexibility tasks compared to “safe” drivers. All of these studies emphasised the essential role of updating and mental flexibility in driving in people with Parkinson’s disease.

Driving a motor vehicle is a complex activity, and errors in performing the driving task can result in crashes which cause property damage, injuries, and sometimes death. It is important that the road environment supports drivers in safe performance of the driving task. At present, increasing amounts of visual information from sources such as roadside advertising create visual clutter in the road environment. There has been little research on the effect of this visual clutter on driving performance, particularly for vulnerable groups such as novice and older drivers. The present work aims to fill this gap. Literature from a variety of relevant disciplines was surveyed and integrated, and a model of the mechanisms by which visual clutter could affect performance of the driving task was developed. To determine potential sources of clutter, focus groups with drivers were held and two studies involving subjective ratings of visual clutter in photographs and video clips of road environments were carried out. This resulted in a taxonomy of visual clutter in the road environment: ‘situational clutter’, including vehicles and other road users with whom drivers interact; ‘designed clutter’, including road signs, signals, and markings used by traffic authorities to communicate with users; and ‘built clutter’, including roadside development and any signage not originating from a road authority. The taxonomy of visual clutter was tested using the change detection paradigm. Drivers were slower to detect changes in photographs of road scenes with high levels of visual clutter than with low levels, and slower for road scenes including advertising billboards than road scenes without billboards. Finally, the effects of billboard presence and lead vehicles on vehicle control, eye movements and responses to traffic signs and signals were tested using a driving simulator. The number of vehicles included appeared to be insufficient to create situational clutter. However billboards had significant effects on driver speed (slower), ability to follow directions on road signs (slower with more errors), and eye movements (increased amount of time fixating on roadsides at the expense of scanning the road ahead). Older drivers were particularly affected by visual clutter in both the change detection and simulated driving tasks. Results are discussed in terms of implications for future research and for road safety practitioners. Visual clutter can affect driver workload as well as purely visual aspects of the driving task (such as hazard perception and search for road signs). When driver workload is increased past a certain point other driving tasks will also be performed less well (such as speed maintenance). Advertising billboards in particular cause visual distraction, and should be considered at a similar level of potential danger as visual distraction from in-vehicle devices. The consequences of roadside visual clutter are more severe for the growing demographic of older drivers. Currently, road environments do not support drivers (particularly older drivers) as well as they could. Based on the results, guidance is given for road authorities to improve this status when designing and location road signage and approving roadside advertising.

<p>To give a realistic impression in a driving simulator for nighttime driving, there are many challenging aspects to consider. One of the most important aspects is the illumination caused by the headlights of the own vehicle. To give a realistic impression there is the need to consider the characteristics of the headlight in use to be able to represent main and dipped beam, but also to represent different models and types of headlights. </p><p>Another important aspect is the dazzling effects caused by the light cast by other vehicles upon the driver. These effects are not only important to give a realistic and visually appealing simulation, but also to simulate blinding effects which may affect the drivers ability to perceive the traffic environment to a large degree. </p><p>This thesis describes methods to simulate these vital aspects of night-drive simulation in real-time using the capabilities of today's graphics cards.</p>

To give a realistic impression in a driving simulator for nighttime driving, there are many challenging aspects to consider. One of the most important aspects is the illumination caused by the headlights of the own vehicle. To give a realistic impression there is the need to consider the characteristics of the headlight in use to be able to represent main and dipped beam, but also to represent different models and types of headlights. Another important aspect is the dazzling effects caused by the light cast by other vehicles upon the driver. These effects are not only important to give a realistic and visually appealing simulation, but also to simulate blinding effects which may affect the drivers ability to perceive the traffic environment to a large degree. This thesis describes methods to simulate these vital aspects of night-drive simulation in real-time using the capabilities of today's graphics cards.

La consommation de cannabis et la conduite sous l’influence du cannabis sont des préoccupations grandissantes dans la société d’aujourd’hui. Le but de la présente étude est d’examiner plus en profondeur la relation entre la fréquence de consommation de cannabis chez les jeunes adultes et la prise de risque sur la route. Les participants (n=48) sont tous des hommes âgés de 18 à 26 ans. Ils ont complété une batterie de questionnaires ainsi qu’une tâche sur simulateur de conduite. Les résultats indiquent que la fréquence de consommation de cannabis est associée positivement avec la prise de risque auto rapportée et suggèrent une tendance positive avec les comportements risqués observés lors de la simulation de conduite en laboratoire. Lorsque les différents groupes de consommateurs sont comparés, ceux qui font un usage quotidien ou multihebdomadaire de cannabis semblent prendre plus de risques au volant que ceux qui consomment une fois semaine et moins ou encore une fois par mois et moins. De plus, il semble que plus les individus consomment fréquemment de la marijuana, plus ils ont tendance à adopter des attitudes permissives en lien avec la conduite sous l’influence de cannabis. Les implications quant à l’intervention sont discutées. / Cannabis use and driving under the influence of cannabis have become a growing concern in today’s society. The aim of the present study was to further examine the relationship between the use frequency of cannabis among young adults and on-road risk taking. Participants (n=48) were all men aged between 18 and 26 years old who were asked to complete questionnaires and to perform in a simulation task. Results indicate that the use frequency of cannabis is positively associated with self-report of risky driving and suggest a trend with observed risk taking behaviour during the simulation. When comparing the different cannabis users, participants who consumed daily or multiple times a week seem to take more risk on the road than those who use cannabis once a week or less and less than monthly. Moreover, it seems that marijuana users who consume more frequently have a tendency of adopting more permissive attitudes toward smoking cannabis and taking the wheel. Implications for interventions are discussed.

Die numerische Simulation ist ein unverzichtbares Werkzeug bei der Produktentwicklung geworden. Bereits in den frühen Phasen von Studien und Konzepten können unterschiedliche Lösungsansätze für eine Aufgabenstellung bewertet werden. In diesem Zusammenhang wird von virtuellen Prototypen gesprochen. Bei der Simulation mobiler Arbeitsmaschinen erfordert das die Einbindung des Bedieners. Die technologische Leistungsfähigkeit wird wesentlich durch die Interaktion zwischen Bediener und Maschine geprägt. Die Beschreibung des Bedieners durch mathematische Modelle ist bis zum gegenwärtigen Zeitpunkt nicht mit belastbaren Resultaten erfolgt. Die Entwicklungen im Bereich der Simulationstechnologie und der Computergrafik ermöglichen die Durchführung interaktiver Simulationen in komplexen virtuellen Welten. Damit lässt sich der Bediener direkt in die Simulation einbinden und es können zusätzliche Potenziale, wie z. B. bei der Untersuchung der Mensch-Maschine-Interaktion erschlossen werden. Durch die interaktive Simulation in Virtual-Reality-Systemen werden neue Anforderungen an die Simulationssoftware gestellt. Zur Interaktion mit dem Bediener müssen die Eingaben aus den Bedienelementen in Echtzeit verarbeitet und audiovisuelle Ausgaben generiert werden. Dabei sind neben den mathematisch-physikalischen Aspekten der Simulation auch Problemfelder wie Synchronisation, Kommunikation, Bussysteme und Computergrafik zu behandeln. Die Anpassung des Simulationssystems an unterschiedliche Aufgabenstellungen erfordert ein flexibel konfigurierbares Softwaresystem. Als Lösung dieser Aufgabenstellung wird eine Softwarearchitektur vorgestellt, welche die unterschiedlichen Problemfelder durch klar voneinander abgegrenzte Komponenten mit entsprechenden Schnittstellen behandelt. Das entstandene Softwaresystem ist flexibel und erweiterbar. Die Simulationsaufgabe wird durch die Konfiguration des Komponentensystems spezifiziert. Die entstehenden Konfigurationsdateien bilden die Anwendungslogik ab und stellen daher einen der wesentlichen Kostenfaktoren bei der Realisierung interaktiver Simulationen dar. Zur Erhöhung der Wiederverwendbarkeit bestehender Konfigurationsfragmente wird ein kompositionsbasierter Ansatz auf der Basis von Skriptsprachen gewählt. / Numerical simulation has evolved into an indispensable tool in modern product development. Even in the early design phases of studies and concepts several different approaches for one individual task can be evaluated. In this context the term virtual prototypes can be used. For effective simulation of mobile construction site machinery incorporation of the operator\'s influence is required. The technological performance of the machinery is essentially influenced by the interaction between the operator and the machine. Currently, there are no known mathematical models describing the operator\'s behaviour, which give substantiated results. The latest developments in computing technology and computer graphics facilitate interactive simulations in complex virtual worlds. This allows not only the operator to be linked to the simulation but also the investigation of additional research areas such as human-machine-interaction. The application of interactive simulation in virtual reality systems places new demands on the simulation software. Due to the interaction not only input signals from the instruments have to be processed but also audio and visual output has to be generated in real time. In addition to the mathematical and physical aspects of simulation, problems in the areas of synchronisation, communication, bus systems and computer graphics also have to be solved. The adaption of the simulation system to new tasks requires a flexible and highly configurable software system. As a response to these demands, a software architecture is presented which partitions the various problems into finite components with corresponding interfaces. The partitioning results in a flexible and extendable software system. The simulation task is specified by the configuration of the component system. The resulting configuration files reflect the application logic and therefore represent one of the main cost factors in the realisation of the interactive simulations. A composition-based approach is chosen as it raises the level of reuse of existing configuration fragments. This approach is based on scripting languages.

Previous research has shown that cognitive deficits arising from neurological impairment can impact on driving performance. The diverse nature of cognitive, perceptual and behavioural impairments experienced by drivers with neurological impairment and the resulting impact on driving ability has been the subject of extensive research involving the use of psychometric off-road measures, road safety statistics, actual on-road driving assessments and self-report. This research has shown that some drivers can compensate for limitations in their driving skills but this is dependent upon realistic self-appraisal of driving abilities. Few studies have investigated the role of self-awareness of driving abilities on on-road driving performance in persons with neurological impairment. Aims: To investigate the relationship between self-awareness of driving related abilities in neurologically impaired drivers and on-road driving performance. Participants: Retrospective data were collated on 79 participants who were referred for Occupational Therapy driving assessment, comprising 24 with Closed Head Injury (CHI) (mean age 24.67 + 5.57 yrs), 30 with Cerebrovascular Accident (CVA) (mean age 61.00 + 9.08 yrs) and 25 with 'Other' diagnosis (mean age 50.64 + 21.14 yrs). All participants held a current driver's licence or learner's permit Results: Five predictor variables were significantly associated with the on-road driving assessment outcome including three demographic variables:- diagnosis (2(2)= 7.69, p = 0.021), time since injury/illness onset (2(2)= 6.40, p = 0.041), and mileage (2(2)= 5.84, p = 0.05); and two self-awareness variables:- reaction time (2(2)= 8.04, p = 0.018), and impulse control (2(2)= 13.47, p = 0.001). Logistic regression yielded a final best model containing two predictor variables (2(4) = 20.81, p = 0.000), including diagnosis (p = 0.02) and self-awareness of impulse control (p = 0.01). Discussion and Conclusion: Participants who over-estimated their driving abilities were more likely to fail a driving assessment or require driving rehabilitation than participants who under-estimated or accurately predicted their performance and participants with a diagnosis of CVA were more likely to fail or require driving rehabilitation than those with a CHI or 'Other' diagnosis.

The implementation of In-Vehicle Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) is becoming a common occurrence in modern vehicles. Automobile manufacturers are releasing vehicles with many forms of sophisticated technologies that remove much of the responsibility of controlling an automobile from the driver. These In-Vehicle Intelligent Transport Systems have stemmed from a genuine need in regards to road safety, however there are advantages and disadvantages associated with ITS. Each different form of technology has its own inherent compromises in relation to road safety, driver behaviour and driver comfort. This thesis outlines the benefits and detrimental effects associated with current In-Vehicle Intelligent Transport Systems and details the development and user interface testing of an adaptive brake light. The adaptive brakelight concept aims to provide drivers with the advantages of an In-Vehicle ITS whilst removing the disadvantages. The technology will help drivers judge the braking pattern of the car in front, thus allowing them to react appropriately and potentially reducing the occurrence of rear-end crashes. The adaptive brake light concept was tested in comparison to a standard brake light and BMW inspired brake light in a series of user interface tests. The adaptive brake light was shown overall to be an improved method of displaying the varying levels of deceleration of a lead vehicle. Whilst different age and gender groups responded differently to the adaptive brake light, it was shown to be of benefit to the majority and the most at risk groups responded positively to the adaptive brake light. This research shows that an adaptive brake light can provide a benefit in regards to road safety when compared to a standard brake light interface. It is hoped that further development of variable brake lights will result from this research and possibly lead to the implementation of the technology to automobiles and other forms of transport.

Submitted by GUSTAVO DE ANDRADE SILVA (obscuremetaller@gmail.com) on 2018-10-09T01:43:22Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Mestrado - Gustavo de Andrade SIlva.pdf: 6925468 bytes, checksum: 967cb2ee2e821188542fb5b1fb5af49f (MD5) / Rejected by Lucilene Cordeiro da Silva Messias null (lubiblio@bauru.unesp.br), reason: Solicitamos que realize uma nova submissão seguindo as orientações abaixo: 1 - Inserir no corpo do texto a ficha catalográfica, pois é um ítem obrigatório. 2 - Inserir no corpo do texto a cópia da ata de defesa, pois é um ítem obrigatório. Agradecemos a compreensão. on 2018-10-09T12:05:19Z (GMT) / Submitted by GUSTAVO DE ANDRADE SILVA (obscuremetaller@gmail.com) on 2018-10-09T15:27:51Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Mestrado - Gustavo de Andrade SIlva.pdf: 7092505 bytes, checksum: 841cdeae95494c0f93e55115aa751924 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Lucilene Cordeiro da Silva Messias null (lubiblio@bauru.unesp.br) on 2018-10-09T16:59:44Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 silva_ga_me_bauru.pdf: 7092505 bytes, checksum: 841cdeae95494c0f93e55115aa751924 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-10-09T16:59:44Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 silva_ga_me_bauru.pdf: 7092505 bytes, checksum: 841cdeae95494c0f93e55115aa751924 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-08-30 / O relógio inteligente é um novo tipo de eletrônico para o punho com funcionalidades idênticas as de um celular, que também é utilizado por motoristas durante a tarefa de condução do veículo, representando uma nova forma de distração do motorista, e risco aumentado de acidentes no trânsito; uma demanda da ergonomia cognitiva. O objetivo do presente estudo foi determinar o efeito do uso de relógio inteligente sobre motoristas experientes e novatos durante a condução simulada de automóvel, na tarefa de seguir o automóvel à frente, através da análise de movimento dos olhos, da cabeça e do desempenho na condução. Vinte motoristas experientes (EXP) e vinte motoristas novatos (NOV) realizaram a tarefa de seguir um carro à frente por um percurso de 2 km em quatro condições: somente seguir o carro (CAR), seguir o carro e receber uma notificação de texto no relógio inteligente (NOT), seguir o carro que freará de modo inesperado e brusco (FRE) e seguir o carro que freará de modo inesperado e brusco e, adicionalmente, receber uma notificação de texto (FNOT). Os dados do olhar, da cabeça e do desempenho na condução do automóvel foram submetidos à análise de variância de grupo (EXP, NOV) por condição de freada (CAR, FRE) por condição de notificação (NOT, FNOT) por tentativa (1, 2, 3). O desempenho da condução de veículo foi afetado pela freada do carro à frente e pelo uso do relógio inteligente ao receber notificação. Ao receber uma notificação no relógio, mudava-se o foco atencional do trânsito para realizar a leitura de texto, aumentando as chances de ocorrência de acidente. Experientes e novatos apresentaram diferentes estratégias para viabilizar a leitura do texto no relógio; experientes mostraram-se mais eficientes, mas ambos grupos desviaram o olhar da pista em detrimento da atenção, o que resultou em condição de risco. / Smartwatch is a new kind of electronic to be worn on the wrist with features similar to those of mobile phones, they are also being used by drivers during their driving task, representing a new form of distraction for drivers and increasing chances of traffic accidents. The goal of this project is to determine the use effect of smartwatches on experienced and novice drivers while driving on a simulated driving task following a vehicle ahead, through the analysis of eye and head movement and driving performance in a driving simulator. Twenty experienced drivers (EXP) and twenty novice drivers (NOV) will follow a car ahead for 2 kilometers in four conditions: follow a car ahead (CAR), follow a car ahead and receive a text message notification on the smartwatch (NOT), follow a car ahead that brakes abruptly (FRE) and follow a car ahead and receive a text message notification on the smartwatch while the car ahead brakes abruptly (FNOT). The gaze, head movement and driving performance data will be subjected to group variance analysis (EXP, NOV), with or without braking (CAR, FRE), with or without smartwatch notification (NOT, FNOT) and by trial (1, 2, 3). The diver’s performance showed to be affected by the car’s ahead braking and by the use of smartwatch during reading tasks. Attentional focus was shifted away from the road to the smartwatch when drivers tried to perform the reading task, thus increasing the chances of an accident. Experienced and novice drivers used different strategies to perform the reading task while driving; experienced drivers were more efficient but both groups shifted their gaze away from the road in detriment of their attention to the traffic, which resulted in risk conditions.

L’objectif principal de ce travail de thèse était d’étudier les mécanismes perceptivomoteurs qui sous-tendent la réalisation d’une tâche d’approche et de traversée d’intersection en conduite automobile. Dans la première partie de ce manuscrit les enjeux humains, économiques et sociétaux liés à la réussite d’une telle tâche sont évoqués. Les principaux résultats obtenus dans les études ayant porté sur l’identification des risques associés à la réalisation de ce type de manœuvre sont présentés. La plupart des travaux réalisés s’étant focalisés sur les processus de haut niveau (e.g., jugement d’un temps d’arrivée), nous avons souhaité durant cette thèse centrer notre attention sur les processus de bas-niveau mis en œuvre. Ce travail de thèse est adossé à l’approche Ecologique de la Perception et de l’Action qui nous a semblé proposer un cadre théorique pertinent pour étudier cette tâche complexe. La deuxième partie est consacrée aux expériences réalisées au cours de ce travail de thèse. Pour réaliser nos trois expériences, un simulateur de conduite à base fixe a été utilisé. Ce travail a permis (i) d’acquérir une meilleure compréhension du support perceptif impliqué dans la réalisation d’une tâche de traversée d’intersection et (ii) d’identifier différents marqueurs du couplage information-mouvement. Les résultats ont révélé que le support perceptif utilisé pour réaliser une tâche perceptive n’était pas le même que celui utilisé pour réaliser une tâche perceptivo-motrice. Les résultats ont également permis d’étayer la thèse selon laquelle le contrôle de la tâche d’approche et de traversée d’intersection reposerait sur un couplage information-mouvement. / This Ph.D. project aims at studying the perceptual-motor mechanisms implicated in intersection crossing task. The first part of this manuscript explains the human, economic and societal challenges associated with the successfully complete the intersection crossing task. The main results of the former studies that have examined the identification of risks associated with this type of maneuver at an intersection are developed. These former studies mainly focused on high-level processes (e.g., discrete judgment or decision tasks), we have decided to focus our attention on low-level processes (e.g., visual guidance) during this Ph.D. project. For this to happen, the Ecological Approach to Perception and Action seems to be a relevant theoretical framework for studying this complex task. Indeed, it preserves the natural link between information and movement. The second part of this manuscript is devoted to the experiments completed during this research. In order to carry out our three experiments, virtual reality fixed-base driving simulator was used. This work contributes to better understand the perceptual substrate involved in intersection crossing task. Also, this work identifies different markers of control based on information-movement coupling. Firstly, our results revealed that the perceptual substrate underlying judgments of arrival time of a vehicle moving towards an intersection is distinct from the perceptual substrate underlying the active control of one’s own approach to the same intersection. Secondly, the results have also strengthened the assumption that the control of approach and intersection crossing task is based on information-movement coupling.