The effect of concentric constriction of the visual field to 10 and 15 degrees on simulated motor vehicle accidents

Abstract

PurposeTraffic accidents are associated with the visual function of drivers, as well as many other factors. Driving simulator systems have the advantage of controlling for traffic- and automobile-related conditions, and using pinhole glasses can control the degree of concentric concentration of the visual field. We evaluated the effect of concentric constriction of the visual field on automobile driving, using driving simulator tests.MethodsSubjects meeting criteria for normal eyesight were included in the study. Pinhole glasses with variable aperture sizes were adjusted to mimic the conditions of concentric visual field constrictions of 10° and 15°, using a CLOCK CHART®. The test contained 8 scenarios (2 oncoming right-turning cars and 6 jump-out events from the side).ResultsEighty-eight subjects were included in the study; 37 (mean age = 52.9±15.8 years) subjects were assigned to the 15° group, and 51 (mean = 48.6±15.5 years) were assigned to the 10° group. For all 8 scenarios, the number of accidents was significantly higher among pinhole wearing subjects. The average number of all types of accidents per person was significantly higher in the pinhole 10° group (4.59±1.81) than the pinhole 15° group (3.68±1.49) (P = 0.032). The number of accidents associated with jump-out scenarios, in which a vehicle approaches from the side on a straight road with a good view, was significantly higher in the pinhole 10° group than in the pinhole 15° group.ConclusionsConcentric constriction of the visual field was associated with increased number of traffic accidents. The simulation findings indicated that a visual field of 10° to 15° may be important for avoiding collisions in places where there is a straight road with a good view.

Glaucomatous visual fields and neurocognitive function are independently associated with poor lane maintenance during driving simulation

“…Szlyk and colleagues (2005) found increased simulated crash risk was associated with greater binocular visual field loss [13], where 57% of glaucoma drivers with less than 10 degrees of total peripheral visual field were involved in simulator accidents. Using glasses to artificially constrict concentric vision, Udagawa and colleagues showed that the number of driving simulator accidents was significantly higher in drivers with vision constricted to 10 and 15 degrees of visual angle, where greater visual constriction was associated with higher crash rates with vehicles approaching from the visual periphery [35]. Kwon and colleagues demonstrated increased crash risk in glaucoma drivers with binocular visual field loss in upper, lower, and leftbut not rightvisual fields [6], though how visual field loss contributed to crashes remains to be determined.…”

The Impact of Field of View on Understanding of a Movie Is Reduced by Magnifying Around the Center of Interest

“…Reduced visual field or FoV extent is associated with decreased spatial awareness, 12,13 pedestrian mobility, [14][15][16][17] and driving, [18][19][20][21] presumably because the available information is reduced. A major impact of the restricted FoV is the loss of peripheral information, where peripheral was a function of the FoV center.…”

“…Although peripheral vision has many limitations as compared to foveal vision, including local ambiguity of the location and phase of features, 22 the gist of a scene can be obtained quickly from peripheral vision. 23,24 Although the ability to perform visionrelated tasks decreases as FoV reduces, [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21] the amount or proportion of visual content necessary for recognition or comprehension of visual content is not clear. In a clever and evocative study, Ullman et al 25 quantified the transition in recognition rate from a minimal recognizable configuration (MIRC) image to a nonrecognizable descendant (by sequentially cropping 20% of the image).…”

Effects of driver compensatory behaviour on risks of critical pedestrian collisions under simulated visual field defects

“…To imitate advanced peripheral visual field impairment, a special eyeglass was used during the experiment [20,[46][47]. It comprised a frame with a 1-mm pinhole lens (Fig 1) that contracts the participants' binocular visual field angle to approximately 10˚ (Fig 2).…”