Details:

Creators:
Noyce, David A. (David Alan), 1961- ; Markosian, James ; Chitturi, Madhav V. ; Farhat, Iman ; Santiago-Chaparro, Kelvin R.
Noyce, David A. (David Alan), 1961- ; Markosian, James ; Chitturi, Madhav V. ; Farhat, Iman ; Santiago-Chaparro, Kelvin R. Less -
Corporate Contributors:
University of Wisconsin--Madison. Traffic Operations and Safety Laboratory ; University of Wisconsin--Madison. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
University of Wisconsin--Madison. Traffic Operations and Safety Laboratory ; University of Wisconsin--Madison. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Less -
Subject/TRT Terms:
[+]
Holographic Materials Holography Signless Roadways Traffic Control Devices Traffic Signs
Resource Type:
Tech Report
Geographical Coverage:
Wisconsin
Corporate Publisher:
University of Wisconsin--Madison. Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Traffic Operations and Safety Laboratory
Abstract:
In recent years, there has been an ever-increasing demand for the integration of technology into vehicles. As the expansion of in-vehicle technology continues, obvious concerns exist with the number of potential distractors added into the driving environment. In particular, technology-based distractors have the potential to attract drivers’ attention away from the roadway and increase the probability of driver error. Nevertheless, advances in technology provide an opportunity for improving safety if used to augment and improve guidance, control, and navigation tasks.

Traffic control devices (TCD) provide the primary form of communication between the roadway environment and drivers. However, many confounding factors such as clutter and traffic volume can lead to drivers missing important TCD often displayed via post-mounted signs. Advanced in-vehicle technologies may allow for a more focused presentation of TCD information, especially by displaying the information in the line of sight of drivers. Placing important TCD in the line of sight of the drivers is not a new idea. In fact, in a study sponsored by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), elongated pavement markings (EPM) were considered as a supplement to enhance post-mounted regulatory and warning signage [40]. EPM signs were placed in the center of the travel lane directly in front of the driver, creating a head-up reinforcement of the critical TCD information.

Results from the study suggest that regulatory and warning sign information placed directly in front of the driver to enhance the traditional signing methods increases awareness and decreases operating speeds, thus improving regulation compliance and safety. A natural evolution of the aforementioned research is to study if in-vehicle technologies in the form of holographic-style displays can be used to effectively augment the reality of the road and lead to safer driver behavior. Furthermore, can holographic-style displays replace traditional post-mounted signs?

Holographic-style displays are a natural evolution of head-up displays (HUD), which are already an option in some vehicles to display navigation information along with collision and lane-departure warnings. Head-up display systems augment the reality of the road and have been found to be an effective form of communicating information to drivers [7, 32, 33, 35, 37]. The objective of the research presented was to explore the use of holographic technology to place TCD information in the drivers’ line of sight in order to determine if this technology and type of presentation could be used as a replacement for traditional post-mounted TCD. A full-scale driving simulator experiment that included 20 subjects was conducted.

In the experiment, subjects were asked to drive on three different scenarios. Scenario A was a completely signless roadway allowing unrestricted free-flow driving without reliance on TCD information. Scenario B was a traditionally signed roadway that included post-mounted regulatory and warning signs. Scenario C was a “virtually signed” roadway (no post-mounted signs) in which virtual traffic control devices were displayed on the screen as if the signs were produced by holographic technology. Speed compliance monitoring across key points on the scenarios suggest that holographic displays could be a viable option to safely and optimally replace or reduce the need for traditional post-mounted TCD signs.


Format:
PDF
Collection(s):
US Transportation Collection
Main Document Checksum:
[+]
urn:sha256:09b6f3572d16fd02e2d28dd1e9fb1556299d170e6049ddf9d81000d49da784d8
Download URL:
https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/31711/dot_31711_DS1.pdf
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