Intergroup Research Initiative "Head-Up Displays"
In modern cars a lot of information is presented on computer displays. Some of this information (for example speed, distance and navigation information) is relevant for driving behavior and requires visual control of the driver. To minimize gaze shifts away from the street while looking at these displays, so-called "head-up displays" (HUDs) are used. HUDs are transparent displays which are projected onto the windshield in front of the driver. The advantage of these displays compared to traditional displays is that relevant information can be projected in the visual field of the driver and therefore no longer requires gaze shifts away from the road.
However, an essential disadvantage of HUDs is the risk of inducing inappropriate attention fixations to the information they contain. Such fixations can interfere with required attention shifts to events in the more distant environment that are relevant for driving. Furthermore, HUD contents can sometimes cover and thereby hinder the recognition of important objects in the environment, such as pedestrians or other cars. What is more, it has been questioned whether the advantage of HUDs with respect to the duration of gaze shifts away from the road outweighs the above-mentioned attentional disadvantages (see Kloke, 2005).
The research initiative "Head-up Displays" was founded at the end of 2005. The goal of this initiative is to evaluate HUDs from the perspective of visual physiology, cognitive psychology, and ergonomics. The initiative does not exclusively deal with HUDs, but more generally with the advantages and disadvantages of three-dimensional displays in applied contexts. The research groups "Individual Visual Performance" and "Modern Human-Machine Systems" have already begun empirical studies to investigate the benefits and drawbacks of HUDs.
Selected Publications: