Do eye movements reflect driving manoeuvres?

Abstract

The goal of driver assistant systems is to monitor the driver’s decision making and intervene where deemed necessary. In order to support the driver’s subsequent driving manoeuvres, knowledge of the driver’s intentions is required. Eye movements have been found to be an indicator of information gathering, and therefore could be used to derive information about the driver’s next planned objective. The aim of this study was to establish whether characteristic eye movement patterns precede particular driving manoeuvres. For this purpose, we analysed drivers’ gaze behaviour prior to the execution of different driving manoeuvres performed in real traffic using the DLR ViewCar. It was found that different driving manoeuvres are preceded by different gaze patterns.