Watch out for the hazard! Blurring peripheral vision facilitates hazard perception in driving

•A new form of perceptual training that involved watching videos from a hazard perception driving test while eye-tracking technology selectively blurred out peripheral areas of the visual field.•An interdisciplinary approach by recording eye movement and brain activity.•Blurring the peripheral parts...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Accident analysis and prevention 2020-10, Vol.146, p.105755-105755, Article 105755
Main Authors: Ryu, Donghyun, Cooke, Andrew, Bellomo, Eduardo, Woodman, Tim
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accidents, Traffic - prevention & control
Adult
Attention
Automobile Driving - education
central vision
Female
gaze-contingent display
hazard perception
Humans
Male
Pattern Recognition, Visual
peripheral vision
Visual Fields - physiology
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Summary:•A new form of perceptual training that involved watching videos from a hazard perception driving test while eye-tracking technology selectively blurred out peripheral areas of the visual field.•An interdisciplinary approach by recording eye movement and brain activity.•Blurring the peripheral parts of hazard perception training clips can help to effectively direct the attention of learner drivers during screen-based hazard perception tests.•Gaze-contingent viewing and precise feedback and scoring systems can improve current hazard perception training interventions. The objectives of this paper were to directly examine the roles of central and peripheral vision in hazard perception and to test whether perceptual training can enhance hazard perception. We also examined putative cortical mechanisms underpinning any effect of perceptual training on performance. To address these objectives, we used the gaze-contingent display paradigm to selectively present information to central and peripheral parts of the visual field. In Experiment 1, we compared hazard perception abilities of experienced and inexperienced drivers while watching video clips in three different viewing conditions (full vision; clear central and blurred peripheral vision; blurred central and clear peripheral vision). Participants’ visual search behaviour and cortical activity were simultaneously recorded. In Experiment 2, we determined whether training with clear central and blurred peripheral vision could improve hazard perception among non-licensed drivers. Results demonstrated that (i) information from central vision is more important than information from peripheral vision in identifying hazard situations, for screen-based hazard perception tests, (ii) clear central and blurred peripheral vision viewing helps the alignment of line-of-gaze and attention, (iii) training with clear central and blurred peripheral vision can improve screen-based hazard perception. The findings have important implications for road safety and provide a new training paradigm to improve hazard perception.
ISSN:0001-4575
1879-2057
DOI:10.1016/j.aap.2020.105755