ABSTRACT
We are interested in the very broad, yet deep, questions regarding the minimal visual requirements of driving an automobile. How does one begin such an enormous effort? Like many others, our search starts with a consideration of the evolutionary history of our species. Obviously, it makes no sense to ask how the demands of driving have influenced the evolutionary development of our visual system since the automobile has been in use for only a century. However, when we consider driving as “locomotion via technology” (to paraphrase a 1938 paper by Gibson and Crooks), we instantly arrive at a proposition that links the abilities of today’s drivers to the contributions of the thousands of generations that have come before us. We can now easily
Reflection ................................................................................................................. 31 2.1 Introduction .................................................................................................... 32 2.2 Theoretical Framework for Linking Vision and Driving ............................... 32
2.2.1 Two Modes of Visual Processing: The Ambient-Focal Dichotomy........................................................................................... 33
2.2.2 Properties of Ambient (Dorsal) versus Focal (Ventral) Vision ..........34 2.2.3 A Two-Level Model of Driver Steering .............................................. 35 2.2.4 Diagnostic Signature of Ambient versus Focal Mediators of
Steering Behavior ...............................................................................36 2.3 Empirical Evidence for Ambient-Focal Mechanisms of Steering ................. 37
2.3.1 Experimental Reductions of Visual Acuity ........................................ 37 2.3.2 Experimental Reductions of Roadway Luminance ............................40 2.3.3 Experimental Restrictions of Driver’s Field of View ......................... 42 2.3.4 Experimental Reductions of Roadway Preview Distance/Time.........44
