Driving simulator test results Deliverable no D6.3. Final draft

Deliverable 6.3 reports the procedure and results from a driving simulator study. This study was carried out to test the efficiency of the principles of the in-vehicle information manager, which was developed within the Comunicar project. Thirty-six subjects were tested in a fixed-base driving simulator. Several events on the road were simulated, like overtaking a slow car, driving through fog, etc. Additionally, the driver received low-priority information via the simulated in-vehicle multimedia system (e.g. an incoming SMS). The experiment consisted of three conditions: (1) Without information manager the low-priority information was presented simultaneously to the road event (e.g. an SMS while the driver overtakes a slow vehicle). (2) With information manager the low-priority information was delayed and presented later, when the situation was rated as being not dangerous anymore. (3) In a reference condition no such information was provided at all. It was expected, that – if information management is effective – safety relevant parameters (longitudinal and lateral control performance) as well as subjective ratings on felt workload should be better in the condition with information manager as compared to the condition without information manager. The subjective data (ratings on workload) provided no evidence in favour of information management. The objective data (driving performance) showed overall advantages for the condition with information manager, even though this picture was not as clear as one could have expected. It is concluded that – despite the high plausibility of the advantages of information management – it is difficult to demonstrate the efficiency in an experimental laboratory set-up. The overall positive result for the objective data nevertheless support the general claim that workload management contributes to increased driving safety.