Cite as:
Kadar E E, Rogers S D, Costall A, 2004, "Seeing into the future by going with the flow: The role of gaze and optic flow in steering" Perception 33 ECVP Abstract Supplement

Seeing into the future by going with the flow: The role of gaze and optic flow in steering

E E Kadar, S D Rogers, A Costall

Driving round a bend in the road consists of two closely related visually controlled tasks: moving forward by controlling speed, and keeping the car on the road by accurate steering. Previous eye-movement studies have failed to provide an adequate account of these apparently complex tasks (Shinar et al, 1977 Human Factors 19 63 - 71; Serafin, 1993, Technical Report No. UMTRI-93-29, University of Michigan Transport Research Institute, Michigan, MI; Land and Lee, 1994 Nature 369 742 - 744). The present simulator study shows that there are two fundamental gaze patterns in curve negotiation and their use depends on the circumstances. Drivers consistently direct their gaze at the tangent point when driving close to the inside contour, and at the outside boundary when driving close to the outside contour. In both cases, speed and accuracy could be controlled by the two basic properties of the optic flow field: the flow rate and the centre of optic expansion [Gibson, 1979 The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception (Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates); Lee, 1976 Perception 5 437 - 469]. These ideas are compatible with recent neurophysiological findings (Siegal and Read, 1997 Cerebral Cortex 7 327 - 346; Anderson and Siegal, 1999 Journal of Neuroscience 19 2681 - 2692).

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