Study on Visibility of Night Vision System and Its Image Presentation Using Head-up Display

Abstract

To assist night-time driving, night vision systems (NVSs) present the image of forward visual field taken with an infrared/near-infrared camera to a driver. We investigated whether such systems detect a visual target (i.e., a pedestrian, a road sign, or obstacles) faster than conventional low-beam forward lighting does. Our results showed the NVS is significantly faster. We also examined various sizes and positions of the HUD presenting the NVS image and determined the appropriate image size and position of the HUD for the NVS. An image, 6(H) × 4.7(V) degrees in visual angle, presented in the lower front of the driver showed the best scores in subjective evaluations.