Effect of Vehicle Control Format on Driver Performance and Attention Allocation under Adaptive Cruise Control

Abstract

Nowadays many major automobile manufacturers have implemented multiple novel control formats along with traditional manual controls in their vehicle models, as revealed by a vehicle survey. This study conducted a driving simulator-based assessment of driver visual behavior and performance in use of different vehicle control interfaces, while using adaptive cruise control (ACC; i.e., an automated assistance system controlling longitudinal motion of the vehicle). Findings suggest that touch screen controls lead to greater visual workload and degraded secondary task performance. Study results also demonstrated that redundancy of control formats (the combination of touch screen and manual controls) degrades secondary task performance. Results of this research are expected to provide applicable guidance for in-vehicle control format design.