The Effect of Auditory Stimulus on Gazing Behavior in Driving Assistance Systems

Abstract: In order to prevent traffic accidents caused by drivers ' inattention, various driving assistance systems have been developed. These systems alert the drivers through sound and warning displays. However, since the type of sound and the location of the sound differs depending on the car model, if the driver does not pay attention, may miss the warning signs. This study examines a method to support drivers' perception of danger by presenting auditory stimuli to promote visual awareness of an arbitrary location. A previous study showed that when a simple visual task was used, the presentation of stimulus sound accelerated the selection of the next fixation target. There were differences in confirmatory behavior toward the target depending on the direction of sound production. Based on these results, we hypothesized that when watching actual driving images, the differences in gaze behavior would emerge depending on whether sounds were presented from the target direction and the type of sound and measured subjects' gaze. The results obtained in this study do not indicate that the sound has an inductive effect, because there are conditions and non-existences in which the sound significantly shortens the induction time of the target. In addition, it is considered that a motive to move the subject's gaze is necessary to induce visual attention, and the induction of attention by auditory stimuli is considered only an auxiliary function. In a subjective evaluation conducted after the experiment, more than half of the subjects responded that their attention was directed toward the direction of the sound presentation. We would like to examine the relationship between sound presentation and picture features and its effectiveness in inducing attention in the future.

Keywords: driver, saccade eye movement, stimulus sound

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe1004058

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