Drivers' Situation Awareness and Spatial Travel Understanding

Abstract

Some drivers can understand the ways that they should follow to get to their destinations, but others are apt to lose their ways easily. What is the difference between them? If we can answer this question, we are able to develop a fine car navigation system. Today's car navigation systems provide the drivers with much information about the circumstances, but too much information may affect their safe drive. To know the essential information for the navigation, it is necessary to investigate what the drivers look at during traveling. An experiment was carried out in which the drivers' situation awareness was collected using Situation Awareness Global Assessment Technique (SAGAT). On the other hand, their ability of spatial travel understanding was estimated based on a route recall test and a turn recognition test. The relation between these data reveals the essential information for the navigation.