Visual Distraction Effects between In-Vehicle Tasks with a Smartphone and a Motorcycle Helmet-Mounted Head-Up Display

Besides motorists, also motorcyclists need safer user interfaces to interact with useful applications on the road. In this paper, distraction effects of in-vehicle tasks conducted with a head-up display (HUD) for motorcyclists were compared to smartphone tasks with 24 participants in a driving simulator. Compared to the smartphone tasks, the head-up display tasks decreased the percentage of inappropriately long glances by 45 percent. The head-up display tasks were also experienced as less demanding than the smartphone tasks. Additionally, the use of head-up display for navigation did not lead to gaze concentration effects compared to baseline driving. The head-up display is concluded to be a safer option for the tested tasks for motorcyclists than a smartphone. Based on earlier research, we assume that the use of peripheral vision allowed drivers to better maintain situational awareness during the head-up display tasks compared to the head-down smartphone tasks. In addition, the easy-to-learn haptic design of the head-up display handlebar controller could be used without vision.