A quantitative comparison of operator field of view for vehicle design

Abstract

This paper outlines the preliminary application of a quantitative method for assessing field of view using spherical projections of categorical visual information overlaid by occlusion maps based on vehicle geometry. The project goal was to quantitatively assess not only where a vehicle operator can see but what visual information is available in the operator’s field of view. By creating a driving environment dataset coded for visual information, we can indicate the probability of a type of visual information appearing in the operator’s field of view in a given vehicle. Next, we overlay probability maps with vehicle and operator eye height-specific occlusion maps, giving us a quantitative representation of visible information. This method was applied to three vehicles: a midsized sedan, a light-duty pickup truck, and a full-sized pickup truck using eye heights corresponding to those of 5th percentile females, 50th percentile females, 50th percentile males, and 95th percentile males.