• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
• /
• v.34 no.2
• /
• pp.85-101
• /
• 2015

Objective: The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate smart secondary controls using iPad for the drivers with physical disabilities in the driving simulator. Background: The physically disabled drivers face problems in the operation of secondary control devices that accept a control input from a driver for the purpose of operating the subsystems of a motor vehicle. Many of conventional secondary controls consist of small knobs or switches that physically disabled drivers have difficulties in grasping, pulling or twisting. Therefore, their use while driving might increase distraction and workload because of longer operation time. Method: We examined the operation time of conventional and smart secondary controls, such as hazard warning, turn signal, window, windshield wiper, headlights, automatic transmission and horn. The hardware of smart secondary control system was composed of iPad, wireless router, digital input/output module and relay switch. We used the STISim Drive3 software for driving test, customized Labview and Xcode programs for interface control of smart secondary system. Nine subjects were involved in the study for measuring operation time of secondary controls. Results: When the driver was in the stationary condition, the average operation time of smart secondary devices decreased 32.5% in the normal subjects (p <0.01), 47.4% in the subjects with left hemiplegic disabilities (p <0.01) and 38.8% in the subjects with right hemiplegic disabilities (p <0.01) compared with conventional secondary devices. When the driver was driving for the test in the simulator, the average operation time of smart secondary devices decreased 36.1% in the normal subjects (p <0.01), 41.7% in the subjects with left hemiplegic disabilities (p <0.01) and 34.1% in the subjects with right hemiplegic disabilities (p <0.01) compared with conventional secondary devices. Conclusion: The smart secondary devices using iPad for people with hemiplegic disabilities showed significant reduction of operation time compared with conventional secondary controls. Application: This study can be used to design secondary controls for adaptive vehicles and to improve the quality of life of the people with disabilities.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
• /
• v.32 no.2
• /
• pp.189-198
• /
• 2013

Objective: This research was carried out to study the menu type design of instrument cluster IVIS(In Vehicle Information System) for efficient navigation under deconcentrated situations. Background: A driver controls the IVIS menu using the rest of cognitive resources while driving a car. Although a driver controls the IVIS using extra cognition resources, his or her distraction can still cause some safety problems while driving. Menu type design of instrument cluster is absolutely important for safe and efficient navigation. Method: Four menu types including paging, flow, icon, and list type were identified through reviewing the existing IVIS of vehicle and the menu structure of cellular phone. Four menu types were evaluated through experiment. The experiment consisted of primary and secondary task, which the primary task was to simulate a driving and the secondary task was to control an IVIS menu prototype. Task performances, menu type preferences, and eye-movement patterns were measured in this experiment. Results: The result shows that icon type was the best design in aspect of task performance and preference. A clue for next menu item provided a positive effect for efficient menu navigation. It was identified that most of subjects gazed the middle-top area of IVIS screen from eye-movement pattern. Conclusion: A basic design of Instrument Cluster IVIS was proposed considering the result of this study in the final. Application: The results of this study can be effectively used in the design of Instrument Cluster IVIS.