A driving simulator study to explore the effects of text size on the visual demand of in-vehicle displays
Modern vehicles increasingly utilise a large display within the centre console, often with touchscreen capability, to enable access to a wide range of driving and non-driving-related functionality. The text provided on such displays can vary considerably in size, yet little is known about the effect...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2016
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/33500/ |
| _version_ | 1848794644265041920 |
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| author | Crundall, Elizabeth Large, David Burnett, Gary |
| author_facet | Crundall, Elizabeth Large, David Burnett, Gary |
| author_sort | Crundall, Elizabeth |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Modern vehicles increasingly utilise a large display within the centre console, often with touchscreen capability, to enable access to a wide range of driving and non-driving-related functionality. The text provided on such displays can vary considerably in size, yet little is known about the effects of different text dimensions on how drivers visually sample the interface while driving and the potential implications for driving performance and user acceptance. A study is described in which sixteen people drove motorway routes in a medium-fidelity simulator and were asked to read text of varying sizes (9 mm, 8 mm, 6.5 mm, 5 mm, or 4 mm) from a central in-vehicle display. Pseudo-text was used as a stimulus to ensure that participants scanned the text in a consistent fashion that was unaffected by comprehension. There was no evidence of an effect of text size on the total time spent glancing at the display, but significant differences arose regarding how glances were distributed. Specifically, larger text sizes were associated with a high number of relatively short glances, whereas smaller text led to a smaller number of long glances. No differences were found in driving performance measures (speed, lateral lane position). Drivers overwhelmingly preferred the ‘compromise’ text sizes (6.5 mm and 8 mm). Results are discussed in relation to the development of large touchscreens within vehicles. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:19:28Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-33500 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:19:28Z |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-335002020-05-08T11:45:28Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/33500/ A driving simulator study to explore the effects of text size on the visual demand of in-vehicle displays Crundall, Elizabeth Large, David Burnett, Gary Modern vehicles increasingly utilise a large display within the centre console, often with touchscreen capability, to enable access to a wide range of driving and non-driving-related functionality. The text provided on such displays can vary considerably in size, yet little is known about the effects of different text dimensions on how drivers visually sample the interface while driving and the potential implications for driving performance and user acceptance. A study is described in which sixteen people drove motorway routes in a medium-fidelity simulator and were asked to read text of varying sizes (9 mm, 8 mm, 6.5 mm, 5 mm, or 4 mm) from a central in-vehicle display. Pseudo-text was used as a stimulus to ensure that participants scanned the text in a consistent fashion that was unaffected by comprehension. There was no evidence of an effect of text size on the total time spent glancing at the display, but significant differences arose regarding how glances were distributed. Specifically, larger text sizes were associated with a high number of relatively short glances, whereas smaller text led to a smaller number of long glances. No differences were found in driving performance measures (speed, lateral lane position). Drivers overwhelmingly preferred the ‘compromise’ text sizes (6.5 mm and 8 mm). Results are discussed in relation to the development of large touchscreens within vehicles. Elsevier 2016-07-01 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en cc_by_nc_nd https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/33500/1/text%20size-displays.pdf Crundall, Elizabeth, Large, David and Burnett, Gary (2016) A driving simulator study to explore the effects of text size on the visual demand of in-vehicle displays. Displays, 43 . pp. 23-29. ISSN 1872-7387 text-size driving simulation visual demand eye-tracking pseudo-text http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0141938216300658 doi:10.1016/j.displa.2016.05.003 doi:10.1016/j.displa.2016.05.003 |
| spellingShingle | text-size driving simulation visual demand eye-tracking pseudo-text Crundall, Elizabeth Large, David Burnett, Gary A driving simulator study to explore the effects of text size on the visual demand of in-vehicle displays |
| title | A driving simulator study to explore the effects of text size on the visual demand of in-vehicle displays |
| title_full | A driving simulator study to explore the effects of text size on the visual demand of in-vehicle displays |
| title_fullStr | A driving simulator study to explore the effects of text size on the visual demand of in-vehicle displays |
| title_full_unstemmed | A driving simulator study to explore the effects of text size on the visual demand of in-vehicle displays |
| title_short | A driving simulator study to explore the effects of text size on the visual demand of in-vehicle displays |
| title_sort | driving simulator study to explore the effects of text size on the visual demand of in-vehicle displays |
| topic | text-size driving simulation visual demand eye-tracking pseudo-text |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/33500/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/33500/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/33500/ |