All experts considered night vision enhancement as a very promising and worthwhile approach to assist drivers and to increase safety under impaired visual conditions. Consequently, all experts endorsed further development. The experts recommended that the main focus should be on an automatic, software supported detection of critical events. Such a support has the advantage that drivers can hold their eyes on the road at all times. Peripherally presented stimuli of obstacles provides cues about potential hazards and increases the alertness of the driver. In conclusion, such an approach was assessed as the most effective one. Analogue displays were considered less effective since they require additional visual attention and may lead to symptoms of fatigue. Therefore, the use of analogue displays was not recommended as the solution for future applications. Against this background, the PR LED System (Far infrared sensor with automatic pedestrian recognition and an event based LED display) was preferred because of its high efficiency. Its simple and intuitive configuration holds no risk of distraction as well as no additional visual demand, and, therefore, no constraints on traffic safety. Conspicuous signals refer to the critical obstacles in a fast and directional way. The position of the display was perceived as well chosen and as being able to be perceived peripherally. Although many features of the NIS HDD Image (Near infrared sensor with head-down display) were assessed positively, the warning function against potential risks was rated as very low. Different objects in the scene were presented very similarly (e.g., reflective post and pedestrian), so that attention capturing of critical targets was hard to achieve. In addition, critical events were overlooked because of blooming effects. Far infrared sensor systems hold the potential to show additional information that the driver cannot see under normal light conditions. Like the PR LED, a far infrared sensor is useful as a warning signal because of the accentuation of warm objects that appear very bright in a colder surrounding. Extensive problems are anticipated with respect to learnability because of temperature-dependent variances in the resulting image, for example, with cooling of the surroundings during longer nighttime driving.
Evaluation of night vision enhancement systems: Driver needs and acceptance
2006
7 Seiten, 1 Bild, 11 Quellen
Conference paper
English
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