Drivers struggle to multitask when using dashboard touch screens, study finds
a day ago
- #cognitive load
- #driving safety
- #touch screen
- Drivers struggle to multitask when using dashboard touch screens, leading to decreased driving performance and touch screen accuracy.
- A study by the University of Washington and Toyota Research Institute found that using touch screens while driving increases lane drifting by 42%.
- Touch screen accuracy and speed decreased by 58% when driving, with an additional 17% decline under high cognitive load.
- Participants' glances at the touch screen were 26.3% shorter under high cognitive load.
- The 'hand-before-eye' phenomenon increased from 63% to 71% when memory tasks were introduced.
- Increasing the size of touch screen target areas did not improve performance, suggesting visual search is the bottleneck.
- Researchers recommend future in-car systems use sensors to monitor drivers' attention and adjust interfaces accordingly.
- The study was presented at the ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology in Busan, Korea.