Stationary gaze entropy predicts lane departure events in sleep-deprived drivers

Investigating the role of flight phase and task difficulty on low-time pilot performance, gaze dynamics and subjective situation awareness during simulated flight

Gaze behaviour has been used as a proxy for information processing capabilities that underlie complex skill performance in real-world domains such as aviation. These processes are highly influenced by task requirements, expertise and can provide insight into situation awareness (SA). Little research has been done to examine the extent to which gaze behaviour, task performance and SA are impacted by various task manipulations within the confines of early-stage skill development. Accordingly, the current study aimed to understand the impact of task difficulty on landing performance, gaze behaviour and SA across different phases of flight. Twenty-four low-time (<300 hours) pilots completed simulated landing scenarios under visual flight rules conditions. Traditional gaze metrics, entropybased metrics, and blink rate provided meaningful insight about the extent to which information processing is modulated by flight phase and task difficulty. The results also suggested that gaze behavior changes compensated for increased task demands and minimized the impact on task performance. Dynamic gaze analyses were shown to be a robust measure of task difficulty and pilot flight hours. Recommendations for the effective implementation of gaze behaviour metrics and their utility in examining information processing changes are discussed.

Subjective awareness of sleepiness while driving in younger and older adults

Understanding whether drivers can accurately assess sleepiness is essential for educational campaigns advising drivers to stop driving when feeling sleepy. However, few studies have examined this in real-world driving environments, particularly among older drivers who comprise a large proportion of all road users. To examine the accuracy of subjective sleepiness ratings in predicting subsequent driving impairment and physiological drowsiness, 16 younger (21-33 years) and 17 older (50-65 years) adults drove an instrumented vehicle for 2 h on closed loop under two conditions: well-rested and 29 h sleep deprivation. Sleepiness ratings (Karolinska Sleepiness Scale, Likelihood of Falling Asleep scale, Sleepiness Symptoms Questionnaire) were obtained every 15min, alongside lane deviations, near crash events, and ocular indices of drowsiness. All subjective sleepiness measures increased with sleep deprivation for both age groups (p < 0.013). While most subjective sleepiness ratings significantly predicted driving impairment and drowsiness in younger adults (OR: 1.7-15.6, p < 0.02), this was only apparent for KSS, likelihood of falling asleep, and "difficulty staying in the lane for the older adults" (OR: 2.76-2.86, p = 0.02). This may be due to an altered perception of sleepiness in older adults, or due to lowered objective signs of impairment in the older group. Our data suggest that (i) younger and older drivers are aware of sleepiness; (ii) the best subjective scale may differ across age groups; and (iii) future research should expand on the best subjective measures to inform of crash risk in older adults to inform tailored educational road safety campaigns on signs of sleepiness.

Effects of Sleep Deprivation and Hazard Types on the Visual Search Patterns and Hazard Response Times of Taxi Drivers

The present study attempted to explore the effects of sleep deprivation on the visual search patterns and hazard response times of taxi drivers when they encountered different types of hazards. A two (driver groups: sleep deprivation or control) × two (hazard types: covert hazard or overt hazard) mixed experimental design was employed. A total of 60 drivers were recruited, half of whom were in the sleep-deprived group and half of whom were in the control group. A validated video-based hazard perception test that either contained covert hazards (12 video clips) or overt hazards (12 video clips) filmed from the drivers' perspective was presented to participants. Participants were instructed to click the left mouse button quickly once they detected a potentially dangerous situation that could lead to an accident. Participants' response time and eye movements relative to the hazards were recorded. The sleep-deprived group had a significantly longer response time and took a longer time to first fixate on covert hazards than the control group, while they had a shorter response time to overt hazards than the control group. The first fixation duration of sleep-deprived drivers was longer than that of the control group for overt hazards, while the duration of the first fixation of the two driver groups was similar for covert hazards. Sleep deprivation affects the visual search patterns and response times to hazards, and the adverse effects of sleep deprivation were worse in relation to covert hazards. The findings have some implications for classifying and evaluating high-risk taxi drivers whose hazard perception ability might be affected by insufficient sleep.

Feeling sleepy? stop driving-awareness of fall asleep crashes

STUDY OBJECTIVES

To examine whether drivers are aware of sleepiness and associated symptoms, and how subjective reports predict driving impairment and physiological drowsiness.

METHODS

Sixteen shift workers (19-65 years; 9 women) drove an instrumented vehicle for 2 hours on a closed-loop track after a night of sleep and a night of work. Subjective sleepiness/symptoms were rated every 15 minutes. Severe and moderate driving impairment was defined by emergency brake maneuvers and lane deviations, respectively. Physiological drowsiness was defined by eye closures (Johns drowsiness scores) and EEG-based microsleep events.

RESULTS

All subjective ratings increased post night-shift (p < 0.001). No severe drive events occurred without noticeable symptoms beforehand. All subjective sleepiness ratings, and specific symptoms, predicted a severe (emergency brake) driving event occurring in the next 15 minutes (OR: 1.76-2.4, AUC > 0.81, p < 0.009), except "head dropping down". Karolinska Sleepiness Scale (KSS), ocular symptoms, difficulty keeping to center of the road, and nodding off to sleep, were associated with a lane deviation in the next 15 minutes (OR: 1.17-1.24, p<0.029), although accuracy was only "fair" (AUC 0.59-0.65). All sleepiness ratings predicted severe ocular-based drowsiness (OR: 1.30-2.81, p < 0.001), with very good-to-excellent accuracy (AUC > 0.8), while moderate ocular-based drowsiness was predicted with fair-to-good accuracy (AUC > 0.62). KSS, likelihood of falling asleep, ocular symptoms, and "nodding off" predicted microsleep events, with fair-to-good accuracy (AUC 0.65-0.73).

CONCLUSIONS

Drivers are aware of sleepiness, and many self-reported sleepiness symptoms predicted subsequent driving impairment/physiological drowsiness. Drivers should self-assess a wide range of sleepiness symptoms and stop driving when these occur to reduce the escalating risk of road crashes due to drowsiness.

Driving impairment and altered ocular activity under the effects of alprazolam and alcohol: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study

BACKGROUND

Alprazolam, also known by trade-name Xanax, is regularly detected along with alcohol in blood samples of drivers injured or killed in traffic collisions. While their co-consumption is principally legal, policy guidelines concerning fitness-to-drive are lacking and methods to index impairment are underdeveloped.

METHODS

In this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover trial, we examined whether legally permissible levels of alcohol [target 0.04% blood alcohol concentration (BAC)], alprazolam (1mg), and their combination impacts driving performance, and whether driving impairment can be indexed by ocular activity. Participants completed a test battery consisting of a 40-minute simulated highway drive with ocular parameters assessed simultaneously, the Karolinska Sleepiness Scale, and a confidence to drive assessment following four separate treatment combinations. The predictive efficacy of ocular parameters to identify alcohol and alprazolam-related driving impairment was also examined.

RESULTS

Among 21 healthy, fully licensed drivers (37% female, mean age 28.43, SD ± 3.96), driving performance was significantly impacted by alprazolam, alcohol, and their combination. Linear regression models revealed that the odds of an out-of-lane event occurring increased five-fold under the influence alprazolam alone and when combined with alcohol. An increase in gaze transition entropy (GTE) demonstrated the strongest association with the odds of an out-of-lane event occurring in the same minute, with both microsleeps and fixation rate achieving moderate accuracy across treatments.

CONCLUSIONS

Alprazolam and alcohol, alone and in combination, impaired select aspects of vehicle control over time. GTE, microsleeps, and fixation rate show potential as real-time indicators of driving impairment and crash risk associated with alcohol and alprazolam consumption.

The impact of non-driving related tasks on the development of driver sleepiness and takeover performances in prolonged automated driving

INTRODUCTION

Vehicle automation is thought to improve road safety since numerous accidents are caused by human error. However, the lack of active involvement and monotonous driving environments due to automation may contribute to drivers' passive fatigue and sleepiness. Previous research indicated that non-driving related tasks (NDRTs) were beneficial in maintaining drivers' arousal levels but detrimental to takeover performance.

METHOD

A 3·2 mixed design (between subjects: driving condition; within subjects: takeover orders) simulator experiment was conducted to explore the development of driver sleepiness in prolonged automated driving context and the effect of NDRTs on driver sleepiness development, and to further evaluate the impact of driver sleepiness and NDRTs on takeover performance. Sixty-three participants were randomly assigned to three driving conditions, each lasting 60 min: automated driving while performing driving environment monitoring task; visual NDRTs task; and visual NDRTs with scheduled driving environment monitoring task. Two hazardous events occurring at about the 5th and 55th min needed to be handled during the respective driving.

RESULTS

Drivers performing monitoring tasks had a faster development of driver sleepiness than drivers in the other two conditions in terms of both subjective and objective indicators. Takeover performance of drivers performing monitoring task were undermined due to driver sleepiness in terms of braking and steering reaction times, the time between saccade latency and braking or steering reaction times, and so forth. Additionally, NDRTs impaired the drivers' takeover ability in terms of saccade latency, max braking pedal input, max steering velocity, minimum time to collision, and so forth. This study shows that NDRTs with scheduled road environment monitoring task improve takeover performance during prolonged automated driving by helping to maintain driver alertness.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

Findings from this work provide some technical assistance in the development of driver sleepiness monitoring systems for conditionally automated vehicles.

Near-Perfect Automation: Investigating Performance, Trust, and Visual Attention Allocation

OBJECTIVE

Assess performance, trust, and visual attention during the monitoring of a near-perfect automated system.

BACKGROUND

Research rarely attempts to assess performance, trust, and visual attention in near-perfect automated systems even though they will be relied on in high-stakes environments.

METHODS

Seventy-three participants completed a 40-min supervisory control task where they monitored three search feeds. All search feeds were 100% reliable with the exception of two automation failures: one miss and one false alarm. Eye-tracking and subjective trust data were collected.

RESULTS

Thirty-four percent of participants correctly identified the automation miss, and 67% correctly identified the automation false alarm. Subjective trust increased when participants did not detect the automation failures and decreased when they did. Participants who detected the false alarm had a more complex scan pattern in the 2 min centered around the automation failure compared with those who did not. Additionally, those who detected the failures had longer dwell times in and transitioned to the center sensor feed significantly more often.

CONCLUSION

Not only does this work highlight the limitations of the human when monitoring near-perfect automated systems, it begins to quantify the subjective experience and attentional cost of the human. It further emphasizes the need to (1) reevaluate the role of the operator in future high-stakes environments and (2) understand the human on an individual level and actively design for the given individual when working with near-perfect automated systems.

APPLICATION

Multiple operator-level measures should be collected in real-time in order to monitor an operator's state and leverage real-time, individualized assistance.

Overview of a Sleep Monitoring Protocol for a Large Natural Population

A standard operating procedure for studying the sleep phenotypes in a large population cohort is proposed. It is intended for academic researchers in investigating the sleep phenotypes in conjunction with the clinical sleep disorders assessment guidelines. The protocol refers to the definitive American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) manual for setting polysomnography (PSG) technical specifications, scoring of sleep and associated events, etc. On this basis, it not only provides a standardized procedure of sleep interview, sleep-relevant questionnaires, and laboratory-based PSG test, but also offers a comprehensive process of sleep data analysis, phenotype extraction, and data storage. Both the objective sleep data recorded by PSG test and subjective sleep information obtained by the sleep interview and sleep questionnaires are involved in the data acquisition procedure. Subsequently, sleep phenotypes can be characterized by observable/inconspicuous physiological patterns during sleep from PSG test or can be marked by sleeping habits like sleep quality, sleep latency, sleep duration, habitual sleep efficiency, sleep disturbances, daytime dysfunction, etc., from sleep interview or questionnaires derived. In addition, solutions to the problems that may be encountered during the protocol are summarized and addressed. With the protocol, it can significantly improve scientific research efficiency and reduce unnecessary workload in large population cohort studies. Moreover, it is also expected to provide a valuable reference for researchers to conduct systematic sleep research.

The effects of task difficulty on gaze behaviour during landing with visual flight rules in low-time pilots

Eye movements have been used to examine the cognitive function of pilots and understand how information processing abilities impact performance. Traditional and advanced measures of gaze behaviour effectively reflect changes in cognitive load, situational awareness, and expert-novice differences. However, the extent to which gaze behaviour changes during the early stages of skill development has yet to be addressed. The current study investigated the impact of task difficulty on gaze behaviour in low-time pilots (N=18) while they completed simulated landing scenarios. An increase in task difficulty resulted in longer fixation of the runway, and a reduction in the stationary gaze entropy (gaze dispersion) and gaze transition entropy (sequence complexity). These findings suggest that pilots' gaze became less complex and more focused on fewer areas of interest when task difficulty increased. Additionally, a novel approach to identify and track instances when pilots restrict their attention outside the cockpit (i.e., gaze tunneling) was explored and shown to be sensitive to changes in task difficulty. Altogether, the gaze-related metrics used in the present study provide valuable information for assessing pilots gaze behaviour and help further understand how gaze contributes to better performance in low-time pilots.

How Tired is Too Tired to Drive? A Systematic Review Assessing the Use of Prior Sleep Duration to Detect Driving Impairment

Driver fatigue is a contributory factor in approximately 20% of vehicle crashes. While other causal factors (eg, drink-driving) have decreased in recent decades due to increased public education strategies and punitive measures, similar decreases have not been seen in fatigue-related crashes. Fatigued driving could be managed in a similar way to drink-driving, with an established point (ie, amount of prior sleep) after which drivers are "deemed impaired". This systematic review aimed to provide an evidence-base for the concept of deemed impairment and to identify how much prior sleep may be required to drive safely. Four online databases were searched (PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, Embase). Eligibility requirements included a) measurement of prior sleep duration and b) driving performance indicators (eg, lane deviation) and/or outcomes (eg, crash likelihood). After screening 1940 unique records, a total of 61 studies were included. Included studies were categorised as having experimental/quasi-experimental (n = 21), naturalistic (n = 3), longitudinal (n = 1), case-control (n = 11), or cross-sectional (n = 25) designs. Findings suggest that after either 6 or 7 hours of prior sleep, a modest level of impairment is generally seen compared with after ≥ 8 hours of prior sleep (ie, well rested), depending on the test used. Crash likelihood appears to be ~30% greater after 6 or 7 hours of prior sleep, as compared to individuals who are well rested. After one night of either 4 or 5 hours of sleep, there are large decrements to driving performance and approximately double the likelihood of a crash when compared with well-rested individuals. When considering the scientific evidence, it appears that there is a notable decrease in driving performance (and associated increase in crash likelihood) when less than 5h prior sleep is obtained. This is a critical first step in establishing community standards regarding the amount of sleep required to drive safely.

Scan-based eye tracking measures are predictive of workload transition performance

Given there is no unifying theory or design guidance for workload transitions, this work investigated how visual attention allocation patterns could inform both topics, by understanding if scan-based eye tracking metrics could predict workload transition performance trends in a context-relevant domain. The eye movements of sixty Naval flight students were tracked as workload transitioned at a slow, medium, and fast pace in an unmanned aerial vehicle testbed. Four scan-based metrics were significant predictors across the different growth curve models of response time and accuracy. Stationary gaze entropy (a measure of how dispersed visual attention transitions are across tasks) was predictive across all three transition rates. The other three predictive scan-based metrics captured different aspects of visual attention, including its spread, directness, and duration. The findings specify several missing details in both theory and design guidance, which is unprecedented, and serves as a basis of future workload transition research.

Effects of psychotropic drugs on ocular parameters relevant to traffic safety: A systematic review

Driving is a complex neurobehavioural task necessitating the rapid selection, uptake, and processing of visual information. Eye movements that are critical for the execution of visually guided behaviour such as driving are also sensitive to the effects of psychotropic substances. The Embase (via Ovid), EBSCOHost, Psynet, Pubmed, Scopus and Web of Science databases were examined from January 01st, 2000 to December 31st, 2021. Study selection, data extraction and Cochrane Risk of Bias (RoB2) assessments were conducted according to PRISMA guidelines. The review was prospectively registered (CRD42021267554). In total, 36 full-text articles examined the effects of six principal psychotropic drug classes on measures of oculomotor parameters relevant to driving. Centrally depressing substances affect oculomotor responses in a dose-dependent manner. Psychostimulants improve maximal speed, but not accuracy, of visual search behaviours. Inhaled Δ-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) increases inattention (saccadic inaccuracy) but does not consistently affect other oculomotor parameters. Alterations to composite ocular parameters due to psychoactive substance usage likely differently compromises performance precision during driving through impaired ability to select and process dynamic visual information.

Assessing Factors Associated with Non-Fatal Injuries from Road Traffic Accidents among Malaysian Adults: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of the PURE Malaysia Study

Non-fatal injuries (NFIs) due to road traffic accidents (RTAs) are a public health problem worldwide that significantly impacts the population morbidity and healthcare costs. As the demands for vehicles in developing countries, such as Malaysia, is increasing annually, the present study aims to determine the prevalence and factors associated with NFIs due to RTAs among Malaysia’s adult population. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study involving 15,321 participants from the Prospective Urban and Rural Epidemiological (PURE) study conducted in Malaysia. Participants reported whether they had experienced an NFI that limited their normal activities within the past 12 months. Data on risk factors for NFIs were elicited. Multiple logistic regression models were fitted to identify the associated factors. Results: Overall, 863 participants (5.6% of 15,321) reported at least 1 NFI in the past 12 months, with 303 caused by RTAs (35.1%), 270 caused by falls (31.3%) and 290 attributed to other causes (33.6%). The factors associated with higher odds of sustaining an NFI due to an RTA were being male (adjusted odd ratio (AOR) 2.08; 95% CI 1.33–3.26), having a primary (2.52; 1.40–4.55) or secondary (2.64; 1.55–4.49) level of education, being overweight to obese (1.40; 1.01–1.94), being currently employed (2.03; 1.31–3.13) and not practicing a noon nap/siesta (1.38; 1.01–1.89). Conclusions: The occurrence of NFIs due to RTAs is highly preventable with strategic planning aimed at reducing the risk of RTAs among the Malaysian population. Interventions focusing on protecting road users, especially those who drive two-wheelers, with proactive road safety awareness and literacy campaigns, combined with strict enforcement of the existing traffic laws and behavioural modifications, may reduce the risk of NFIs following RTAs.

Multimodal driver state modeling through unsupervised learning

Naturalistic driving data (NDD) can help understand drivers' reactions to each driving scenario and provide personalized context to driving behavior. However, NDD requires a high amount of manual labor to label certain driver's state and behavioral patterns. Unsupervised analysis of NDD can be used to automatically detect different patterns from the driver and vehicle data. In this paper, we propose a methodology to understand changes in driver's physiological responses within different driving patterns. Our methodology first decomposes a driving scenario by using a Bayesian Change Point detection model. We then apply the Latent Dirichlet Allocation method on both driver state and behavior data to detect patterns. We present two case studies in which vehicles were equipped to collect exterior, interior, and driver behavioral data. Four patterns of driving behaviors (i.e., harsh brake, normal brake, curved driving, and highway driving), as well as two patterns of driver's heart rate (HR) (i.e., normal vs. abnormal high HR), and gaze entropy (i.e., low versus high), were detected in these two case studies. The findings of these case studies indicated that among our participants, the drivers' HR had a higher fraction of abnormal patterns during harsh brakes, accelerating and curved driving. Additionally, free-flow driving with close to zero accelerations on the highway was accompanied by more fraction of normal HR as well as a lower gaze entropy pattern. With the proposed methodology we can better understand variations in driver's psychophysiological states within different driving scenarios. The findings of this work, has the potential to guide future autonomous vehicles to take actions that are fit to each specific driver.

An on-road examination of daytime and evening driving on rural roads: physiological, subjective, eye gaze, and driving performance outcomes

Experiencing sleepiness when driving is associated with increased crash risk. An increasing number of studies have examined on-road driver sleepiness; however, these studies typically assess the effect of sleepiness during the late night or early morning hours when sleep pressure is approaching its greatest. An on-road driving study was performed to assess how a range of physiological and sleepiness measures are impacted when driving during the daytime and evening when moderate sleepiness is experienced. In total, 27 participants (14 women and 13 men) completed a driving session in a rural town lasting approximately 60 minutes, while physiological sleepiness (heart rate variability), subjective sleepiness, eye tracking data, vehicle kinematic data and GPS speed data were recorded. Daytime driving sessions began at 12:00 or 14:00, with the evening sessions beginning at 19:30 or 20:30; only a subset of participants (n = 11) completing the evening sessions (daytime and evening order counterbalanced). The results suggest reductions in the horizontal and vertical scanning ranges occurred during the initial 40 minutes of driving for both daytime and evening sessions, but with evening sessions reductions in scanning ranges occurred across the entire driving session. Moreover, during evening driving there was an increase in physiological and subjective sleepiness levels. The results demonstrate meaningful increases in sleepiness and reductions in eye scanning when driving during both the daytime and particularly in the evening. Thus, drivers need to remain vigilant when driving during the daytime and the evening.

Identifying autism spectrum disorder symptoms using response and gaze behavior during the Go/NoGo game CatChicken

Previous studies have found that Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) children scored lower during a Go/No-Go task and faced difficulty focusing their gaze on the speaker's face during a conversation. To date, however, there has not been an adequate study examining children's response and gaze during the Go/No-Go task to distinguish ASD from typical children. We investigated typical and ASD children's gaze modulation when they played a version of the Go/No-Go game. The proposed system represents the Go and the No-Go stimuli as chicken and cat characters, respectively. It tracks children's gaze using an eye tracker mounted on the monitor. Statistically significant between-group differences in spatial and auto-regressive temporal gaze-related features for 21 ASD and 31 typical children suggest that ASD children had more unstable gaze modulation during the test. Using the features that differ significantly as inputs, the AdaBoost meta-learning algorithm attained an accuracy rate of 88.6% in differentiating the ASD subjects from the typical ones.

On-road driving impairment following sleep deprivation differs according to age

Impaired driving performance due to sleep loss is a major contributor to motor-vehicle crashes, fatalities, and serious injuries. As on-road, fully-instrumented studies of drowsy driving have largely focused on young drivers, we examined the impact of sleep loss on driving performance and physiological drowsiness in both younger and older drivers of working age. Sixteen ‘younger’ adults (M = 24.3 ± 3.1 years [21–33 years], 9 males) and seventeen ‘older’ adults (M = 57.3 ± 5.2, [50–65 years], 9 males) undertook two 2 h drives on a closed-loop track in an instrumented vehicle with a qualified instructor following (i) 8 h sleep opportunity the night prior (well-rested), and (ii) after 29-h of total sleep deprivation (TSD). Following TSD, both age groups displayed increased subjective sleepiness and lane departures (p < 0.05), with younger drivers exhibiting 7.37 × more lane departures, and 11 × greater risk of near crash events following sleep loss. While older drivers exhibited a 3.5 × more lane departures following sleep loss (p = 0.008), they did not have a significant increase in near-crash events (3/34 drives). Compared to older adults, younger adults had 3.1 × more lane departures (p = < 0.001), and more near crash events (79% versus 21%, p = 0.007). Ocular measures of drowsiness, including blink duration, number of long eye closures and PERCLOS increased following sleep loss for younger adults only (p < 0.05). These results suggest that for older working-aged adults, driving impairments observed following sleep loss may not be due to falling asleep. Future work should examine whether this is attributed to other consequences of sleep loss, such as inattention or distraction from the road.

I think I'm sleepy, therefore I am - Awareness of sleepiness while driving: A systematic review

Driver drowsiness contributes to 10-20% of motor vehicle crashes. To reduce crash risk, ideally drivers would be aware of the drowsy state and cease driving. The extent to which drivers can accurately identify sleepiness remains under much debate. We systematically examined whether individuals are aware of sleepiness while driving, and whether this accurately reflects driving impairment, using meta-analyses and narrative review. Within this scope, there is high variability in measures of subjective sleepiness, driving performance and physiologically-derived drowsiness, and statistical analyses. Thirty-four simulated/naturalistic driving studies were reviewed. To summarise, drivers were aware of sleepiness, and this was associated to physiological drowsiness and driving impairment, such that high levels of sleepiness significantly predicted crash events and lane deviations. Subjective sleepiness was more strongly correlated (i) with physiological drowsiness compared to driving outcomes; (ii) under simulated driving conditions compared to naturalistic drives; and (iii) when examined using the Karolinska sleepiness scale (KSS) compared to other measures. Gaps remain in relation to how age, sex, and varying degrees of sleep loss may influence this association. This review provides evidence that drivers are aware of drowsiness while driving, and stopping driving when feeling 'sleepy' may significantly reduce crash risk.

An evaluation and comparison of commercial driver sleepiness detection technology: a rapid review

Objective. Sleepiness-related motor vehicle crashes, caused by lack of sleep or driving during night-time hours, often result in serious injury or fatality. Sleepiness detection technology is rapidly emerging as a sleepiness risk mitigation strategy for drivers. Continuous monitoring technologies assess and alert to driver sleepiness in real-time, while fit for duty technologies provide a single assessment of sleepiness state. The aim of this rapid review was to evaluate and compare sleepiness detection technologies in relation to specifications, cost, target consumer group and validity.Approach. We evaluated a range of sleepiness detection technologies suitable for consumer groups ranging from regular drivers in private vehicles through to work-related drivers within large businesses.Main results. Continuous monitoring technologies typically ranged between $100 and $3000 AUD and had ongoing monthly costs for telematics functionality and manager alerts. Fit for duty technologies had either a one-off purchase cost or a monthly subscription cost. Of concern, the majority of commercial continuous monitoring technologies lacked scientific validation. While some technologies had promising findings in terms of their ability to detect and reduce driver sleepiness, further validation work is required. Field studies that evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of technology alerts under conditions that are regularly experienced by drivers are necessary. Additionally, there is a need for longitudinal naturalistic driving studies to determine whether sleepiness detection technologies actually reduce sleepiness-related crashes or near-crashes.Significance. There is an abundance of sleepiness detection technologies on the market, but a majority lacked validation. There is a need for these technologies and their validation to be regulated by a driver safety body. Otherwise, consumers will base their technology choices on cost and features, rather than the ability to save lives.

The Effects of Language Barriers and Time Constraints on Online Learning Performance: An Eye-Tracking Study

OBJECTIVE

The goal of this study is to model the effect of language use and time pressure on English as a first language (EFL) and English as a second language (ESL) students by measuring their eye movements in an on-screen, self-directed learning environment.

BACKGROUND

Online learning is becoming integrated into learners' daily lives due to the flexibility in scheduling and location that it offers. However, in many cases, the online learners often have no interaction with one another or their instructors, making it difficult to determine how the learners are reading the materials and whether they are learning effectively. Furthermore, online learning may pose challenges to those who face language barriers or are under time pressure.

METHOD

The effects of two factors, language use (EFL vs. ESL) and time constraints (high vs. low time pressure), were investigated during the presentation of online materials. The effects were analyzed based on eye movement measures (eye fixation rate-the total number of eye fixations divided by the task duration and gaze entropy) and behavioral measures (correct rate and task completion time).

RESULTS

The results show that the ESL students had higher eye fixation rates and longer task completion times than the EFL students. Moreover, high time pressure resulted in high fixation rates, short task completion time, low correct rates, and high gaze entropy.

CONCLUSION AND APPLICATION

The results suggest the possibility of using unobtrusive eye movement measures to develop ways to better assist those who struggle with learning in the online environment.

Driver monitoring systems (DMS): The future of impaired driving management?

OBJECTIVE

Driver monitoring systems (DMS) are the next generation of vehicle safety technology. Broadly, these refer to the embedded, aftermarket wearable or vehicle-mounted devices that collect observable information about the operator to make real-time assessment of their capacity to perform the driving task. Integrating biobehavioral monitoring (primarily ocular metrics) with driving performance assessments, these systems function to infer driver state in real time to identify operator conditions that negatively affect driving (such as fatigue, inattention, or distraction).

METHOD

We review available methods used to infer driver state, as referenced against accepted models for optimal performance. Modeling our observations on deviation from predetermined performance thresholds used to trigger graded safety alerts, we suggest that many psychoactive substances produce alterations to biobehavioral processes including attentional and motor control, which affect performance indices in a manner already arguably captured by these technologies.

RESULTS

Using these existing frameworks, there is considerable potential to similarly catalogue the effect of many common intoxicants known to negatively affect driving ability. This will provide safety-relevant and practical biological models for the development of next-generation multimodal DMS that integrate ocular and physiological variables sensitive to the effects of common and emergent psychoactive substances.

CONCLUSION

These devices have tangible potential application across all areas of transportation, including aviation, rail, and all commercial and private vehicle systems.

Measuring inter- and intra-individual differences in visual scan patterns in a driving simulator experiment using active information storage

Scan pattern analysis has been discussed as a promising tool in the context of real-time gaze-based applications. In particular, information-theoretic measures of scan path predictability, such as the gaze transition entropy (GTE), have been proposed for detecting relevant changes in user state or task demand. These measures model scan patterns as first-order Markov chains, assuming that only the location of the previous fixation is predictive of the next fixation in time. However, this assumption may not be sufficient in general, as recent research has shown that scan patterns may also exhibit more long-range temporal correlations. Thus, we here evaluate the active information storage (AIS) as a novel information-theoretic approach to quantifying scan path predictability in a dynamic task. In contrast to the GTE, the AIS provides means to statistically test and account for temporal correlations in scan path data beyond the previous last fixation. We compare AIS to GTE in a driving simulator experiment, in which participants drove in a highway scenario, where trials were defined based on an experimental manipulation that encouraged the driver to start an overtaking maneuver. Two levels of difficulty were realized by varying the time left to complete the task. We found that individual observers indeed showed temporal correlations beyond a single past fixation and that the length of the correlation varied between observers. No effect of task difficulty was observed on scan path predictability for either AIS or GTE, but we found a significant increase in predictability during overtaking. Importantly, for participants for which the first-order Markov chain assumption did not hold, this was only shown using AIS but not GTE. We conclude that accounting for longer time horizons in scan paths in a personalized fashion is beneficial for interpreting gaze pattern in dynamic tasks.

Quantifying the Predictability of Visual Scanpaths Using Active Information Storage

Entropy-based measures are an important tool for studying human gaze behavior under various conditions. In particular, gaze transition entropy (GTE) is a popular method to quantify the predictability of a visual scanpath as the entropy of transitions between fixations and has been shown to correlate with changes in task demand or changes in observer state. Measuring scanpath predictability is thus a promising approach to identifying viewers' cognitive states in behavioral experiments or gaze-based applications. However, GTE does not account for temporal dependencies beyond two consecutive fixations and may thus underestimate the actual predictability of the current fixation given past gaze behavior. Instead, we propose to quantify scanpath predictability by estimating the active information storage (AIS), which can account for dependencies spanning multiple fixations. AIS is calculated as the mutual information between a processes' multivariate past state and its next value. It is thus able to measure how much information a sequence of past fixations provides about the next fixation, hence covering a longer temporal horizon. Applying the proposed approach, we were able to distinguish between induced observer states based on estimated AIS, providing first evidence that AIS may be used in the inference of user states to improve human-machine interaction.

Eye-head coordination and dynamic visual scanning as indicators of visuo-cognitive demands in driving simulator

Driving is an everyday task involving a complex interaction between visual and cognitive processes. As such, an increase in the cognitive and/or visual demands can lead to a mental overload which can be detrimental for driving safety. Compiling evidence suggest that eye and head movements are relevant indicators of visuo-cognitive demands and attention allocation. This study aims to investigate the effects of visual degradation on eye-head coordination as well as visual scanning behavior during a highly demanding task in a driving simulator. A total of 21 emmetropic participants (21 to 34 years old) performed dual-task driving in which they were asked to maintain a constant speed on a highway while completing a visual search and detection task on a navigation device. Participants did the experiment with optimal vision and with contact lenses that introduced a visual perturbation (myopic defocus). The results indicate modifications of eye-head coordination and the dynamics of visual scanning in response to the visual perturbation induced. More specifically, the head was more involved in horizontal gaze shifts when the visual needs were not met. Furthermore, the evaluation of visual scanning dynamics, based on time-based entropy which measures the complexity and randomness of scanpaths, revealed that eye and gaze movements became less explorative and more stereotyped when vision was not optimal. These results provide evidence for a reorganization of both eye and head movements in response to increasing visual-cognitive demands during a driving task. Altogether, these findings suggest that eye and head movements can provide relevant information about visuo-cognitive demands associated with complex tasks. Ultimately, eye-head coordination and visual scanning dynamics may be good candidates to estimate drivers' workload and better characterize risky driving behavior.

Amphetamine-induced alteration to gaze parameters: A novel conceptual pathway and implications for naturalistic behavior

Amphetamine produces a multiplicity of well-documented end-order biochemical, pharmacological and biobehavioural effects. Mechanistically, amphetamine downregulates presynaptic and postsynaptic striatal monoamine (primarily dopaminergic) systems, producing alterations to key brain regions which manifest as stereotyped ridged behaviour which occurs under both acute and chronic dosing schedules and persists beyond detoxification. Despite evidence of amphetamine-induced visual attentional dysfunction, no conceptual synthesis has yet captured how characteristic pharmaco-behavioural processes are critically implicated via these pathways, nor described the potential implications for safety-sensitive behaviours. Drawing on known pathomechanisms, we propose a cross-disciplinary, novel conceptual functional system framework for delineating the biobehavioural consequences of amphetamine use on visual attentional capacity and discuss the implications for functional and behavioural outcomes. Specifically, we highlight the manifest implications for behaviours that are conceptually driven and highly dependent on visual information processing for timely execution of visually-guided movements. Following this, we highlight the potential impact on safety-sensitive, but common behaviours, such as driving a motor vehicle. The close pathophysiological relationship between oculomotor control and higher-order cognitive processes further suggests that dynamic measurement of movement related to the motion of the eye (gaze behaviour) may be a simple, effective and direct measure of behavioural performance capabilities in naturalistic settings. Consequently, we discuss the potential efficacy of ocular monitoring for the detection and monitoring of driver states for this drug user group, and potential wider application. Significance statement: We propose a novel biochemical-physiological-behavioural pathway which delineates how amphetamine use critically alters oculomotor function, visual-attentional performance and information processing capabilities. Given the manifest implications for behaviours that are conceptually driven and highly dependent on these processes, we recommend oculography as a novel means of detecting and monitoring gaze behaviours during naturalistic tasks such as driving. Real-word examination of gaze behaviour therefore present as an effective means to detect driver impairment and prevent performance degradation due to these drugs.

Gaze entropy measures detect alcohol-induced driver impairment

Driving under the influence of alcohol is an ongoing cause of road traffic accidents. The biphasic nature of alcohol effects on subjective experience appears to contribute to the prevalence of drink-driving, as people perceive the declining phase of the BAC curve as recovery from intoxication and are more willing to drive despite significant impairments in objectively measured functions. The present study investigates whether alcohol-induced changes in gaze behaviour can be detected during engagement in a simulated driving task. In a repeated-measures and placebo-controlled design, this study examines the biphasic influence of moderate alcohol intake (0.6 g/kg) on measures of gaze behaviour and simulated driving performance. Twenty-two healthy young adults completed three driving sessions (baseline, ascending and descending) under two conditions (placebo, alcohol) while their eye movements were simultaneously recorded. The results revealed that gaze behaviour as measured by gaze transition entropy (GTE) and stationary gaze entropy (SGE) and driving performance measured by the standard deviation of lateral position (SDLP) of the vehicle, were significantly affected by alcohol across the ascending and descending sessions. The alcohol-induced reduction in GTE with an increase in SGE is discussed as alcohol's impact on top-down modulation of gaze resulting in more dispersed and erratic pattern of visual scanning. The observed changes in gaze behaviour also mediated the influence of alcohol upon driving performance. These results have significant implications for the development of driver monitoring systems that can detect alcohol-induced impairment.

Vehicle and Highway Adaptations to Compensate for Sleepy Drivers

Sleepiness remains a major contributor to road crashes. Driver monitoring systems identify early signs of sleepiness and alert drivers, using real-time analysis of eyelid movements, EEG activity, and steering control. Other vehicle adaptations warn drivers of lane departures or collision hazards, with higher vehicle automation actively taking over vehicle control to prevent run off the road incidents and institute emergency braking. Similarly, road adaptations warn drivers (rumble strips) or mitigate crash severity (barriers). Infrastructure to encourage drivers to use countermeasures, such as rest stops for napping, is also important. The effectiveness of adaptations varies for different road users.

Eye-Blink Parameters Detect On-Road Track-Driving Impairment Following Severe Sleep Deprivation

STUDY OBJECTIVES

Drowsiness leads to 20% of fatal road crashes, while inability to assess drowsiness has hampered drowsiness interventions. This study examined the accuracy of eye-blink parameters for detecting drowsiness related driving impairment in real time.

METHODS

Twelve participants undertook two sessions of 2-hour track-driving in an instrumented vehicle following a normal night's sleep or 32 to 34 hours of extended wake in a randomized crossover design. Eye-blink parameters and lane excursion events were monitored continuously.

RESULTS

Sleep deprivation increased the rates of out-of-lane driving events and early drive terminations. Episodes of prolonged eyelid closures, blink duration, the ratio of amplitude to velocity of eyelid closure, and John's Drowsiness Score (JDS, a composite score) were also increased following sleep deprivation. A time-on-task (drive duration) effect was evident for out-of-lane events rate and most eye-blink parameters after sleep deprivation. The JDS demonstrated the strongest association with the odds of out-of-lane events in the same minute, whereas measures of blink duration and prolonged eye closure were stronger indicators of risk for out-of-lane events over longer periods of 5 minutes and 15 minutes, respectively. Eye-blink parameters also achieved moderate accuracies (specificities from 70.12% to 84.15% at a sensitivity of 50%) for detecting out-of-lane events in the same minute, with stronger associations over longer timeframes of 5 minutes to 15 minutes.

CONCLUSIONS

Eyelid closure parameters are useful tools for monitoring and predicting drowsiness-related driving impairment (out-of-lane events) that could be utilized for monitoring drowsiness and assessing the efficacy of drowsiness interventions.

CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION

This study is registered with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trial Registry (ANCTR), http://www.anzctr.org.au/TrialSearch.aspx ACTRN12612000102875.

CITATION

Shekari Soleimanloo S, Wilkinson VE, Cori JM,Westlake J, Stevens B, Downey LA, Shiferaw BA, Rajaratnam SMW, Howard ME. Eye-blink parameters detect on-road track-driving impairment following severe sleep deprivation. J Clin Sleep Med. 2019;15(9):1271-1284.

Noncontact RF Vital Sign Sensor for Continuous Monitoring of Driver Status

In this paper, a radio frequency vital sign sensor based on double voltage-controlled oscillators (VCOs) combined with a switchable phase-locked loop (PLL) is proposed for a noncontact remote vital sign sensing system. Our sensing system primarily detects the periodic movements of the human lungs and the hearts via the impedance variation of the resonator. With a change in impedance, both the VCO oscillation frequency and the PLL feedback voltage also change. Thus, by tracking the feedback voltage of the PLL, breath and heart rate signals can be acquired simultaneously. However, as the distance between the body and the sensor varies, there are certain points with minimal sensitivity, making it is quite difficult to detect vital signs. These points, called impedance null points, periodically occur at distances proportional to the wavelength. To overcome the impedance null point problem, two resonators operating at different frequencies, 2.40 and 2.76 GHz, are employed as receiving components. In an experiment to investigate the sensing performance as a function of distance, the measurement distance was accurately controlled by a linear actuator. Furthermore, to evaluate the sensing performance in a real environment, experiments were carried out with a male and a female subject in a static vehicle. To demonstrate the real-time vital sign monitoring capability, spectrograms were utilized, and the accuracy was assessed relative to reference sensors. Based on the results, it is demonstrated that the proposed remote sensor can reliably detect vital signs in a real vehicle environment.

The effects of flight complexity on gaze entropy: An experimental study with fighter pilots

We studied the effects of task load variations as a function of flight complexity on combat pilots' gaze behavior (i.e., entropy) while solving in-flight emergencies. The second company of the Spanish Army Attack Helicopter Battalion (n = 15) performed three sets of standardized flight exercises with different levels of complexity (low [recognition flights], medium and high [emergency flights]). Throughout the flight exercises we recorded pilots' gaze entropy, as well as pilots' performance (assessed by an expert flight instructor) and subjective ratings of task load (assessed by the NASA-Task Load Index). Furthermore, we used pilots' electroencephalographic (EEG) activity as a reference physiological index for task load variations. We found that pilots' gaze entropy decreased ∼2% (i.e., visual scanning became less erratic) while solving the emergency flight exercises, showing a significant decreasing trend with increasing complexity (p < .05). This is in consonance with the ∼12% increase in the frontal theta band of their EEG spectra during said exercises. Pilots' errors and subjective ratings of task load increased as flight complexity increased (p-values < .05). Gaze data suggest that pilots used nondeterministic visual patterns when the aircraft was in an error-free state (low complexity), and changed their scanning behavior, becoming more deterministic, once emergencies occurred (medium/high complexity). Overall, our findings indicate that gaze entropy can serve as a sensitive index of task load in aviation settings.