scholarly journals Physiological indices and driving performance of drivers at tunnel entrances and exits: A simulated driving study

PLoS ONE ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (12) ◽  
pp. e0243931
Author(s):  
Jinliang Xu ◽  
Xiaodong Zhang ◽  
Huan Liu ◽  
Kaige Yang ◽  
Fangchen Ma ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Growth Rate ◽  
Pupil Diameter ◽  
Driving Performance ◽  
Simulation Software ◽  
Motion Platform ◽  
Tunnel Length ◽  
Simulated Driving ◽  
Physiological Indices ◽  
Tunnel Entrance

The entrance and exit sections of a tunnel are the accident black-spots in an expressway. For a safe operation of road tunnels, it is necessary to understand a driver’s physiological indices and driving performance when driving through tunnels. In this study, the UC-Win/Road simulation software was used to build 12 tunnel models of different lengths. A simulated driving experiment was carried out in a 6-DoF motion platform. The lateral position of vehicles characterizing the driving performance was measured using the motion platform. Electrocardiogram and eye movement data of 25 recruited drivers were collected simultaneously through the experiment. The spatial changes in a driver’s heart rate (HR) growth rate, RMSSD, pupil diameter growth rate and vehicle lateral deviation within 300 m before and after the tunnel entrance and exit were analyzed to determine the variation rules in the different tunnels. The study identified the length range in the tunnel entrance and exit sections that influences the drivers. A quantitative analysis was further carried out to analyze the relationship between the physiological indices and the driving performance indicator. The results showed that a driver’s heart rate fluctuates significantly 250 m before the tunnel entrance and 50 m before the exit. In this region, the pupil diameter increases gradually, and drivers tend to shift the vehicle to the left. At the tunnel exit, the HR and RMSSD are affected significantly by the tunnel length, and the variation is higher in longer tunnels. In comparison, the tunnel length has no significant effect on the physiological indicators and driving performance of the drivers at the entrance and exit.

The Simulation Analysis of Tunnel Wind Cooling System in Shenyang Area

2013 ◽  
Vol 724-725 ◽  
pp. 1474-1477
Author(s):  
Xiao Ming Zhang ◽  
Yang Gao ◽  
Xiao Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Optimization Design ◽  
Simulation Analysis ◽  
Cooling System ◽  
System Optimization ◽  
Simulation Software ◽  
Equivalent Diameter ◽  
Tunnel Length ◽  
Surrounding Areas ◽  
Entrance Velocity ◽  
Tunnel Entrance

Applied FLUENT simulation software to research the influence of tunnel length, tunnel entrance velocity, tunnel equivalent diameter and tunnel buried depth four important factors on the tunnel wind cooling system in Shenyang area. The results show that, with the increase of tunnel length and tunnel buried depth and with the decrease of tunnel entrance velocity and tunnel equivalent diameter, the outdoor air which passed into the tunnel cooling amplitude increases. For the tunnel wind cooling system optimization design in Shenyang area and the surrounding areas, the advices are that tunnel buried depth should not be more than 6m and tunnel entrance velocity should not be more than 5m/s.

scholarly journals Experimental Analysis of Driver Visual Characteristics in Urban Tunnels

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 4274
Author(s):  
Song Fang ◽  
Jianxiao Ma
Keyword(s):  
Traffic Safety ◽  
Clustering Algorithm ◽  
Pupil Diameter ◽  
Data Fitting ◽  
Eye Tracker ◽  
Tunnel Length ◽  
Point Distribution ◽  
Change Rate ◽  
Visual Characteristics ◽  
Diameter Change

Through an urban tunnel-driving experiment, this paper studies the changing trend of drivers’ visual characteristics in tunnels. A Tobii Pro Glasses 2 wearable eye tracker was used to measure pupil diameter, scanning time, and fixation point distribution of the driver during driving. A two-step clustering algorithm and the data-fitting method were used to analyze the experimental data. The results show that the univariate clustering analysis of the pupil diameter change rate of drivers has poor discrimination because the pupil diameter change rate of drivers in the process of “dark adaptation” is larger, while the pupil diameter change rate of drivers in the process of “bright adaptation” is relatively smooth. The univariate and bivariate clustering results of drivers’ pupil diameters were all placed into three categories, with reasonable distribution and suitable differentiation. The clustering results accurately corresponded to different locations of the tunnel. The clustering method proposed in this paper can identify similar behaviors of drivers at different locations in the transition section at the tunnel entrance, the inner section, and the outer area of the tunnel. Through data-fitting of drivers’ visual characteristic parameters in different tunnels, it was found that a short tunnel, with a length of less than 1 km, has little influence on visual characteristics when the maximum pupil diameter is small, and the percentage of saccades is relatively low. An urban tunnel with a length between 1 and 2 km has a significant influence on visual characteristics. In this range, with the increase in tunnel length, the maximum pupil diameter increases significantly, and the percentage of saccades increases rapidly. When the tunnel length exceeds 2 km, the maximum pupil diameter does not continue to increase. The longer the urban tunnel, the more discrete the distribution of drivers’ gaze points. The research results should provide a scientific basis for the design of urban tunnel traffic safety facilities and traffic organization.

Effects of Individual Differences, Attention, and Memory Deficits on Driver Distraction

2020 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 1196-1201
Author(s):  
Alejandro A. Arca ◽  
Kaitlin M. Stanford ◽  
Mustapha Mouloua
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Driving Simulator ◽  
Memory Deficits ◽  
Driving Performance ◽  
Driver Distraction ◽  
Phone Call ◽  
Traffic Density ◽  
Attention And Memory ◽  
Adhd Diagnosis ◽  
Simulated Driving

The current study was designed to empirically examine the effects of individual differences in attention and memory deficits on driver distraction. Forty-eight participants consisting of 37 non-ADHD and 11 ADHD drivers were tested in a medium fidelity GE-ISIM driving simulator. All participants took part in a series of simulated driving scenarios involving both high and low traffic conditions in conjunction with completing a 20-Questions task either by text- message or phone-call. Measures of UFOV, simulated driving, heart rate variability, and subjective (NASA TLX) workload performance were recorded for each of the experimental tasks. It was hypothesized that ADHD diagnosis, type of cellular distraction, and traffic density would affect driving performance as measured by driving performance, workload assessment, and physiological measures. Preliminary results indicated that ADHD diagnosis, type of cellular distraction, and traffic density affected the performance of the secondary task. These results provide further evidence for the deleterious effects of cellphone use on driver distraction, especially for drivers who are diagnosed with attention-deficit and memory capacity deficits. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed, and directions for future research are also presented.

The effects of using a portable music player on simulated driving performance and task-sharing strategies

2012 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 738-746 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristie L. Young ◽  
Eve Mitsopoulos-Rubens ◽  
Christina M. Rudin-Brown ◽  
Michael G. Lenné
Keyword(s):  
Driving Performance ◽  
Task Sharing ◽  
Simulated Driving ◽  
Music Player ◽  
And Task

Directional effects of whole-body spinning and visual flow in virtual reality on vagal neuromodulation

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Alexander Yang Hui Xiang ◽  
Prashanna Khwaounjoo ◽  
Yusuf Ozgur Cakmak
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Nervous System ◽  
Visual Stimulation ◽  
Pupil Diameter ◽  
Parasympathetic Activity ◽  
Whole Body ◽  
Vagal Activity ◽  
Eyes Closed ◽  
Visual Flow ◽  
Visual Interactions

BACKGROUND: Neural circuits allow whole-body yaw rotation to modulate vagal parasympathetic activity, which alters beat-to-beat variation in heart rate. The overall output of spinning direction, as well as vestibular-visual interactions on vagal activity still needs to be investigated. OBJECTIVE: This study investigated direction-dependent effects of visual and natural vestibular stimulation on two autonomic responses: heart rate variability (HRV) and pupil diameter. METHODS: Healthy human male subjects (n = 27) underwent constant whole-body yaw rotation with eyes open and closed in the clockwise (CW) and anticlockwise (ACW) directions, at 90°/s for two minutes. Subjects also viewed the same spinning environments on video in a VR headset. RESULTS: CW spinning significantly decreased parasympathetic vagal activity in all conditions (CW open p = 0.0048, CW closed p = 0.0151, CW VR p = 0.0019,), but not ACW spinning (ACW open p = 0.2068, ACW closed p = 0.7755, ACW VR p = 0.1775,) as indicated by an HRV metric, the root mean square of successive RR interval differences (RMSSD). There were no direction-dependent effects of constant spinning on sympathetic activity inferred through the HRV metrics, stress index (SI), sympathetic nervous system index (SNS index) and pupil diameter. Neuroplasticity in the CW eyes closed and CW VR conditions post stimulation was observed. CONCLUSIONS: Only one direction of yaw spinning, and visual flow caused vagal nerve neuromodulation and neuroplasticity, resulting in an inhibition of parasympathetic activity on the heart, to the same extent in either vestibular or visual stimulation. These results indicate that visual flow in VR can be used as a non-electrical method for vagus nerve inhibition without the need for body motion in the treatment of disorders with vagal overactivity. The findings are also important for VR and spinning chair based autonomic nervous system modulation protocols, and the effects of motion integrated VR.

E's Presence: Effect on S's Performance

1972 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 903-904 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerard Musante ◽  
James M. Anker
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Psychological Experiment ◽  
Demand Characteristics ◽  
Physiological Indices ◽  
Psychological Experimentation

This study was designed to see if the presence of E was sufficient to produce “demand characteristics” in a psychological experiment. Two physiological indices, electromyogram and heart rate, measured performance of a task, i.e., not to respond to a tone. E's presence facilitated S's ability not to respond as indicated by EMG. E's presence had a facilitating effect and “demand characteristics” of psychological experimentation appear to exist.

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