The impact of secondary in-vehicle display animations and their location on driver attention and glance behavior

Abstract: This driving simulator study explores which kind and amount of non-driving-related animations can be implemented in cars’ front displays without causing significant driver distraction. While in recent years, a large amount of research has been conducted on how driving-relevant information must be displayed to capture the driver’s attention, the question on how non-driving-related animations can be conveyed in front displays without compromising the driver’s attention has rarely been addressed. However, due to the omnipresence of digital displays in present-day vehicles combined with observable efforts of vehicle manufacturers to increase the visual design appeal, the topic currently gains practical relevance. N = 53 participants were presented 16 animations that differed in stimulus salience features like fade-in time, brightness, target color, as well as internal and external movement. These animations were either displayed in the Cluster display or in the Central Infotainment Display (CID) and they were all irrelevant to the three driver tasks: To follow a lead vehicle (Car Following Task), perform a visual Detection Response Task (vDRT) and, optionally, react to a small set of driving-relevant info texts. In Test Drive 1, texts appeared in the Cluster only, whereas Test Drive 2, they appeared in both the Cluster and the CID. This was done to alter the task relevance of the two locations. Although a general effect of animations on vDRT performance could be observed across all study parts, this was with the exception of slow fading-in animations and other factors such as reduced brightness, target color, and the object size in the animation. Additionally, in Test Drive 1 a location effect could be observed: Animations displayed in the Cluster display led to a reduced vDRT performance when compared to animations that were displayed in the more distant CID. This effect disappeared when driving-relevant information texts were introduced to the CID in Test Drive 2. Taken together, visual attention was more vulnerable to animations of increased salience and to animations at lower-effort locations - an effect that can be moderated when the value of a more distant location is increased. The resulting design recommendations may be used to consider the risk of distractive features throughout the whole design process of in-car animations, reducing development costs, maximizing driving safety and providing a positive user experience.

Keywords: Animations, In-Vehicle Displays, Driver Distraction, Stimulus Salience

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe1005249

Cite this paper:

​