NaviLight: investigating ambient light displays for turn by turn navigation in cars
Car navigation systems typically combine multiple output modalities; for example, GPS based navigation aids show a real time map, or feature spoken prompts indicating upcoming maneuvers. However, the drawback of graphical navigation displays is that drivers have to explicitly glance at them, which can distract from a situation on the road. To decrease driver distraction while driving with a navigation system, we explore the use of ambient light as a navigation aid in the car, in order to shift navigation aids to the periphery of human attention. We investigated this by conducting studies in a driving simulator, where we found that drivers spent significantly less time glancing at the ambient light navigation aid than on a GUI navigation display. Moreover, ambient light based navigation was perceived to be easy to use and understand, and preferred over traditional GUI navigation displays. We discuss the implications of these outcomes on automotive personal navigation devices.
MobileHCI