Investigating the influence of eye-catching effect on mental workload in highway tunnel entrances: a comprehensive analysis of eye blink behavior

IF 1.6 3区工程技术 Q3 PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH

Traffic Injury Prevention Pub Date : 2025-01-02 DOI:10.1080/15389588.2024.2382251

Lei Han , Zhigang Du

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Objective

The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between eye-catching effects and mental workload at highway tunnel entrances. Specifically, the study aimed to analyze drivers’ eye blink behavior to gain a comprehensive understanding of how visual attraction at tunnel entrances affects cognitive workload.

Methods

50 participants were recruited for the naturalistic driving experiment. Four different visually attractive driving scenarios (baseline, landscape-style architecture, tip slogan, and billboard) were selected. Eye-tracking technology was utilized to record and analyze the eye blink behavior of participating drivers. Various metrics, including blink frequency, blink duration, inter-blink interval, and pupil diameter after a blink, were measured and compared across different scenarios.

Results

The results of the study demonstrated significant differences in drivers’ eye blink behavior across the different experimental scenarios, indicating the influence of visual attraction conditions on mental workload. The presence of eye-catching stimuli (landscape-style architecture, tip slogan, and billboard scenarios) at tunnel entrances resulted in decreased blink frequency, shorter blink duration, longer inter-blink intervals, and larger pupil diameter after a blink compared to when no specific eye-catching stimuli were present (baseline condition). These findings suggest that visual attractions capture drivers’ attention, leading to increased cognitive workload and attentional demands.

Conclusions

The findings of this study contribute to the existing literature on driver attention and mental workload, particularly in relation to eye-catching effect in tunnel environments. The presence of eye-catching stimuli at tunnel entrances can distract drivers and increase their mental workload, potentially compromising driving performance and safety. It is crucial for transportation authorities and designers to carefully consider the design and placement of visual attractions in tunnel entrances to minimize distraction and cognitive workload. By doing so, driving safety and performance can be enhanced in tunnel entrances.

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研究高速公路隧道入口醒目效应对心理工作量的影响：对眨眼行为的综合分析。

研究目的本研究的目的是调查高速公路隧道入口处吸引眼球的效果与心理工作量之间的关系。具体来说，研究旨在分析驾驶员的眨眼行为，以全面了解隧道入口处的视觉吸引力如何影响认知工作量。方法：招募 50 名参与者进行自然驾驶实验。选择了四种不同的视觉吸引力驾驶场景（基线、景观式建筑、提示标语和广告牌）。利用眼动跟踪技术记录和分析参与实验的驾驶员的眨眼行为。对眨眼频率、眨眼持续时间、眨眼间隔和眨眼后的瞳孔直径等各种指标进行了测量，并在不同情景下进行了比较：研究结果表明，在不同的实验场景中，驾驶员的眨眼行为存在显著差异，这表明视觉吸引条件对脑力劳动负荷有影响。与没有特定吸引眼球的刺激物时（基线条件）相比，在隧道入口处出现吸引眼球的刺激物（景观式建筑、提示标语和广告牌场景）会导致眨眼频率降低、眨眼持续时间缩短、眨眼间隔延长以及眨眼后瞳孔直径增大。这些研究结果表明，视觉吸引力会吸引驾驶员的注意力，导致认知工作量和注意力需求增加：本研究的结果为现有关于驾驶员注意力和脑力劳动负荷的文献做出了贡献，尤其是与隧道环境中的吸引眼球效应有关的文献。隧道入口处醒目刺激物的存在会分散驾驶员的注意力，增加他们的脑力劳动负荷，从而可能影响驾驶性能和安全。交通管理部门和设计人员必须仔细考虑隧道入口视觉景点的设计和位置，以尽量减少注意力分散和认知工作量。这样做可以提高隧道入口的驾驶安全性和性能。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Traffic Injury Prevention PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH-

CiteScore

3.60

自引率

10.00%

发文量

137

审稿时长

3 months

期刊介绍： The purpose of Traffic Injury Prevention is to bridge the disciplines of medicine, engineering, public health and traffic safety in order to foster the science of traffic injury prevention. The archival journal focuses on research, interventions and evaluations within the areas of traffic safety, crash causation, injury prevention and treatment. General topics within the journal''s scope are driver behavior, road infrastructure, emerging crash avoidance technologies, crash and injury epidemiology, alcohol and drugs, impact injury biomechanics, vehicle crashworthiness, occupant restraints, pedestrian safety, evaluation of interventions, economic consequences and emergency and clinical care with specific application to traffic injury prevention. The journal includes full length papers, review articles, case studies, brief technical notes and commentaries.