Gaze-eccentricity effects on road position and steering.

• DOI: 10.1037/1076-898x.8.4.247
• Publication Date: 2005-10-07T19:17:31Z
• Authors: Wilson O. Readinger; Astros Chatziastros; Douglas W. Cunnin...; Heinrich H. Bülthoff; James E. Cutting
• Keywords: Adult; Male; Adolescent; 05 social sciences; Fixation, Ocular; Random Allocation; Visual Perception; Humans; Attention; Female; 0501 psychology and cognitive sciences; Psychomotor Performance

The effects of gaze eccentricity on the steering of an automobile were studied. Drivers performed an attention task while attempting to drive down the middle of a straight road in a simulation. Steering was biased in the direction of fixation, and deviation from the center of the road was proportional to the gaze direction until saturation at approximately 15 degrees gaze-angle from straight ahead. This effect remains when the position of the head was controlled and a reverse-steering task was used. Furthermore, the effect was not dependent on speed but reversed when the forward movement of the driver was removed from the simulation. Thus, small deviations in a driver's gaze can lead to significant impairments of the ability to drive a straight course.