Safer Driving with Gaze Guidance

Our study explores eye movements and driving behaviour in safety-critical situations. We collected eye movements from subjects instructed to drive predetermined routes in a driving simulator. While driving, the subjects performed various cognitive tasks designed to divert their attention away from the road. The subjects were divided in two groups, a control and a “gaze-contingent cue” (GCC) group. For the latter, potentially dangerous simulator events, such as a pedestrian suddenly crossing the street, were highlighted with temporally transient GCCs, which were triggered if the subject did not look at the event. Preliminary results, with 11 GCC subjects and 9 controls, show a significantly diminished accident rate for the group that drove with gaze guidance.