Information Content of a Route Guidance System Based on the Characteristics of Elderly Drivers

Abstract

Landmarks and clues outside the car that elderly drivers can easily recognize from inside the car and on a car navigation system during route navigation were extracted. In a laboratory survey, we measured the degree of awareness of logos by type of business. We then conducted a driving simulator experiment to verify the response rate, reaction distance, and line of sight direction according to the business type and store, vehicle location, shop location, and presence/absence of signboards that had good results in the laboratory survey set as variables. Results show that a vehicle navigation system should ideally use clue information outside the car that drivers can view without largely averting their eyes from the front; use clue information that is presented at a large visual angle; and use clue information that is conspicuous in color and shape and known by the elderly driver.