Rally Driver’s Eye Movements When Driving the Corner on Gravel Road – Differences Between World Rally Championship and National Championship Drivers

Sie sind hier: Homepage > Suche

Rally Driver’s Eye Movements When Driving the Corner on Gravel Road – Differences Between World Rally Championship and National Championship Drivers

Hariyama, Tomoyasu / Kato, Takaaki

Abstract We focus on rally drivers’ eye movements and behaviors when they are driving around a corner on a gravel road in this research. Recent studies of visual strategy regarding visual control in driving have been conducted in a driving simulator and on a racing course or paved roads. However, this study was conducted in the real environment of gravel roads and with real vehicles. In this study, the difference between the accomplished and intermediate rally driver’s eye movements and fixation points were defined. The study’s purpose was to understand how expert drivers move their eyes while driving around a corner on a gravel road. Twelve subjects, who were rally drivers in Japan, participated in the experiment; the accomplished driver had won the World Rally Championship (WRC) and was the fast rally driver in Japan. Each subject’s eye movement was measured with mobile eye tracker (Tobii Pro Glasses 2, Tobii, Sweden) and operated at 50 Hz. The eye tracker recordings were analyzed using Frame-By-Frame analysis. This study suggests that the eye movements of accomplished drivers allow them to control the car safely and be conscious of oncoming corners. Furthermore, by looking and thinking ahead like accomplished drivers, the cognitive load associated with driving is likely to decrease; furthermore, it may serve to activate their memories of previous rallies.