Effect of the Visual-Information Display of a Vehicle to Drivers

The main cause of traffic accidents is the line of sight of a driver deviates from the front during driving. To reduce the frequencies and times of deviation from the front roadway of the line of sight of a driver, some manufacturers equip their luxurious cars with a product called a head up display (HUD). These drivers can get some information such as speedometer and engine speed, without their lines of sight deviating from the windshield. As a result, the car is safer to drive. However, for the question of what kinds of information will be displayed by HUD and how much can be shown on a display for a driver, we cannot find enough materials for reference. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to understand how the information patterns of an automotive display system will affect a driver and also driving safety. The five variables in this study are displayed color, luminance, information quantity, screen dimension and sound effects. Within the range of the displayed screen, the driver’s reaction will be discussed under different situations of brightness. Dynamic Road conditions will be played on a screen just in front of the simulated test platform. The tester will sit in this platform and stare at the screen. The reaction in the tester’s brain will be recorded by a professional instrument called an electroencephalography (EEG), simultaneously. According to different cases and through the questionnaire survey method, the abovementioned items will be evaluated through the human visual effect. A database will then be set up from these results. The results from this experiment show most people reached the research’s expectations. It is helpful to develop an available display system of vehicles. In addition, it can also provide for the planning of verified items for automotive HUDs system in the future.