Effects of Cooperative Vehicle Infrastructure System on Driver’s Attention––a Simulator Study on Work Zone

To clarify the effect of the cooperative vehicle infrastructure system (CVIS) application on drivers’ visual performance, a total of 37 drivers were recruited to drive the simulated roadway in a freeway work zone under baseline and cooperative vehicle environments. Drivers’ attention and concentration on the forward roadway, attention distraction, and attention distribution in both scenarios were analyzed. The results indicated that the CVIS application changed drivers’ information-processing mode in the forward roadway as manifested by higher glance frequency and shorter average dwell time. In addition, more off-road distractions were observed in the range of 500 m in front of the work zone, but focusing on human–machine interfaces (HMIs) was not the main cause. In conclusion, the change in the driver’s attention allocation and the diversion was clarified with the proposed visual link diagram. This paper provides a comprehensive approach to visual assessment of CVIS and contributes to the customized design and optimization of future CVIS-HMI.