A study on the effects of video billboards on the visual processing of drivers

• Main Authors: Co, Angelique D., Co, Faustine W., Limpo, Jose Alfonso T.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2014
• Subjects: Traffic accidents; Billboards; Motor vehicle drivers; Engineering
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_bachelors/9329
• Institution: De La Salle University

Vehicular accidents are the fifth leading cause of death in the Philippines, majority of which are caused by driver error. Driving errors are defined as the resulting wrong action of by the wrong guidance and stabilization driving decisions. These necessary abilities for the task of driving rely heavily on the visual processing of the mind. The two types of visual processing are focal visual processing and ambient visual processing. The former has to do with the recognition of objects which guides the driver to his desired destination ahead. The latter is said to deal with the gauging the presence of objects and their distance from the driver in order for maneuvering decisions to be made around them. Previous studies have found that billboards reduce the driving performance of drivers, however, none have explored yet their distinctions between focal and ambient visual processing especially in the case of video billboards. As such, ambient and visual processing continues to be highly theoretical and its behavior in the presence of billboards has yet to be studied. This study was conducted to see how video billboards and their characteristics, height and size, affect the focal visual processing and ambient visual processing of drivers. Experimentation included a driving simulator for participants to drive through, in which the data was collected and analyzed. The results showed that focal visual processing worsened with higher billboards but not statistically worsened by presence or size. Ambient visual processing worsened in the presence of video billboards.