Cycling around a Curve: The Effect of Cycling Speed on Steering and Gaze Behavior

Abstract

Although it is generally accepted that visual information guides steering, it is still unclear whether a curvature matching strategy or a ‘look where you are going’ strategy is used while steering through a curved road. The current experiment investigated to what extent the existing models for curve driving also apply to cycling around a curve, and tested the influence of cycling speed on steering and gaze behavior. Twenty-five participants were asked to cycle through a semicircular lane three consecutive times at three different speeds while staying in the center of the lane. The observed steering behavior suggests that an anticipatory steering strategy was used at curve entrance and a compensatory strategy was used to steer through the actual bend of the curve. A shift of gaze from the center to the inside edge of the lane indicates that at low cycling speed, the ‘look where you are going’ strategy was preferred, while at higher cycling speeds participants seemed to prefer the curvature matching strategy. Authors suggest that visual information from both steering strategies contributes to the steering system and can be used in a flexible way. Based on a familiarization effect, it can be assumed that steering is not only guided by vision but that a short-term learning component should also be taken into account.

Visual Eye Gaze While Cycling: Analyzing Eye Tracking at Signalized Intersections in Urban Conditions

“…In this respect, "dwell-time fixation" is defined by a minimum fixation duration of 100 ms and a maximum visual angle variation of one degree. Consistent with protocol from similar studies [36,[42][43][44], if the visual angle varies up to one degree, it means that the gaze is fixed; the end of a fixation is defined when the eye deviates from the fixation start position by more than one degree. The list of variables measured in this study are presented in Table 1 with their description; Table 2 presents how the analysis is segmented by type of intersection and experience level.…”

Sensorimotor basis of motor vehicle control

“…Consistent with this finding, in a recent study on cyclists, Vansteenkiste, Van Hamme et al (2014) found that during cycling along a circular path an anticipatory steering strategy is used at curve entrance while a compensatory closed-loop control is used during the cornering phase. The fact that a uni-phasic 4 manoeuvre can be conducted without feedback but a bi-phasic manoeuvre cannot, suggests that drivers require feedback to generate a second steering phase.…”

“…It has been suggested that drivers may use future path and tangent point at different steering stages, for example, tangent point could be used to enter a corner whereas future path could be employed in later cornering phase (Lappi 2014). On-road experimental data also suggest that there is no evidence showing those two strategies are mutually exclusive, it is likely that drivers use multiple strategies in different situations during corner negotiation (Vansteenkiste, Van Hamme et al 2014, Itkonen, Pekkanen et al 2015.…”

“…During such experiments, participants are typically required to move within an artificially generated force field with unfamiliar dynamics, a task they appear able to master even when (Kandil, Rotter et al 2009, Lappi, Lehtonen et al 2013, Lehtonen, Lappi et al 2014, Vansteenkiste, Van Hamme et al 2014, Itkonen, Pekkanen et al 2015. These studies help address issues related to many steering models, as introduced above, but they…”

The Perceptual Shaping of Anticipatory Actions

“…Otherwise, at the speed of their descent, reacting only after the effects of the irregularities on the terrain are felt would cause them to lose balance and fall. Anticipatory motor actions, thought to depend on the cerebellum (1,2), are quintessential for skilled performance in sport, but they are also part of our everyday behavior: from walking (3)(4)(5), to grasping (6)(7)(8) and to riding a bicycle (9). The question then arises as to how these actions are controlled?…”