A wide range of information and communication devices and advanced driver assistance systems are being introduced into motor vehicles. These include navigation aids, emergency messaging systems and wireless communication including email and internet access.
Many of these features have associated visual information that can potentially both inform and distract. To help ensure that the use of such devices and features that are meant to be used by the driver while driving do not result in excessive visual demand, a consistent, verifiable and repeatable method to determine the visual demand imposed by such in-vehicle systems is needed.
BS ISO 16673:2007 uses the occlusion method to estimate visual demand, including resumability, of a task using a means for intermittent viewing of the in-vehicle system. Evaluation by occlusion identifies driver interfaces that are likely to take the driver’s eyes away from the road for excessively long durations.
This international Standard provides a procedure for measuring visual demand due to the use of visual or visual-manual interfaces accessible to the driver while the vehicle is in motion. It applies to both Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) and After-Market in-vehicle systems. It applies to both permanently installed and portable systems.