Use of a driving video game platform to analyze the visual performance of drivers: a pilot study

"Fitness to drive" is the ability to drive a vehicle safely. It decreases when cognitive dimensions such as processing speed are affected in older adults. The objective way to measure is through observation to identify crash risks in naturalistic driving, which is costly in time and money. Other objective measures that can be easily monitored need to be investigated. Our project aims to examine the association between the properties of visual attention (i.e., duration and frequency of looking at specific points in the cabin) and drivers' cognitive performance. Previously, we developed the Intelligent Multi-modal Monitoring System to infer Points of Visual Attention (SiMIPAV). It measures the properties of visual attention based on head posture, which we validated with 15 young adults and 15 older adults. This study aims to validate the feasibility of measuring visual behaviors using SiMIPAV with a simulator, which would facilitate data collection in a safe environment. We recruited 12 young adults and 5 adults over the age of 59 who drove in a simulator based on video game platforms. We found that road gaze frequency was negatively correlated with driving speed in both conditions (simulator and naturalistic) and with both age groups. However, road gaze duration and speed are only correlated in the naturalistic condition.