Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

Visuomotor control of steering: the artefact of the matter

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Experimental Brain Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Previous behavioural research (Land and Horwood in Nature 377:339–340, 1995) indicates that surprisingly little visual information is required to effect smooth and accurate steering through a curving roadway. Based on results from a driving simulator study, Land and Horwood reported that viewing the roadway through two horizontal apertures, one degree of visual angle in height, can result in steering performance which is indistinguishable from that obtained with the whole scene visible. The position of the apertures in the visual field, they claimed, is crucial; higher up leads to less accurate but more stable steering responses, whilst lower down leads to jerky steering but more accurate lane-keeping. These findings are consistent with a two-stage model of steering control proposed by Donges in Human Factors 20:691–707 (1978). However, in a driving simulator, the temporal lag between the input signal received from a control device and the output presented on the display can have profound effects on steering behaviour. In two experiments, we show that the effect of aperture position on steering accuracy and stability is pronounced when a slow frame update rate is used (7.2 Hz, as used by Land and Horwood in Nature 377:339–340, 1995), but largely attenuated with a faster update rate (72 Hz). These results are consistent with the broader empirical literature dealing with temporal delays in manual tracking, and urge a critical reappraisal of the behavioural evidence for the two-stage steering model.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Beall AC, Loomis JM (1996) Visual control of steering without course information. Perception 25:481–494

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Billington J, Field DT, Wilkie RM, Wann JP (2010) An fMRI study of parietal cortex involvement in the visual guidance of locomotion. J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform 36:1495–1507

    Google Scholar 

  • Braess H, Seiffert U (2005) Handbook of automotive engineering. SAE International, Warrendale, PA

    Google Scholar 

  • Chatziastros A, Wallis G, Bulthoff H (1999) The effect of field of view and surface texture on driver steering performance. In: Gale AG, Brown ID, Haslegrave CM, Taylor SP (eds) Vision in vehicles VII. Elsevier, Amsterdam

    Google Scholar 

  • Cloete SR, Wallis G (2009) Limitations of feedforward control in multiple-phase steering movements. Exp Brain Res 195:481–487

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Coutton-Jean C, Mestre DR, Goulon C, Bootsma RJ (2009) The role of edge lines in curve driving. Transp Res Part F Traffic Psychol Behav 12:483–493

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Donges E (1978) 2-level model of driver steering behavior. Hum Factors 20:691–707

    Google Scholar 

  • Fajen BR, Warren WH (2003) Behavioral dynamics of steering, obstacle avoidance, and route selection. J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform 29:343–362

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hildreth EC, Beusmans JMH, Boer ER, Royden CS (2000) From vision to action: experiments and models of steering control during driving. J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform 26:1106–1132

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hogema JH (1997) Compensation for delay in the visual display of a driving simulator. Simulation 69:27–34

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Land M, Horwood J (1995) Which parts of the road guide steering. Nature 377:339–340

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Land MF, Lee DN (1994) Where we look when we steer. Nature 369:742–744

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Macuga KL, Beall AC, Kelly JW, Smith RS, Loomis JM (2007) Changing lanes: inertial cues and explicit path information facilitate steering performance when visual feedback is removed. Exp Brain Res 178:141–150

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mars F (2008) Driving around bends with manipulated eye-steering coordination. J Vis 8:1–11

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Miall RC, Weir DJ, Stein JF (1985) Visuomotor tracking with delayed visual feedback. Neuroscience 16:511–520

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Morgan MJ, Turnbull DF (1978) Smooth eye tracking and perception of motion in absence of real movement. Vis Res 18:1053–1059

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Morice AHP, Siegler IA, Bardy BG (2008) Action-perception patterns in virtual ball bouncing: combating system latency and tracking functional validity. J Neurosci Methods 169:255–266

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ricard G (1994) Manual control with delays: a bibliography. Comput Graph 18:149–154

    Google Scholar 

  • Riedel A, Arbinger R (1997) Subjektive und Objecktive Beurteilung des Fahrverhaltens von PKW. Forschungsvereinigung Automobiltechnik 139

  • Robertshaw KD, Wilkie RM (2008) Does gaze influence steering around a bend? J Vis 8:1–13

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Salvucci DD, Gray R (2004) A two-point visual control model of steering. Perception 33:1233–1248

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • US Census Bureau (2006) Statistical abstract of the United States. Retrieved from http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2010/tables/10s1060.pdf

  • US Department of Transportation (2004) Highway statistics 2003. Federal Highway Administration, Washington DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Wallis G, Chatziastros A, Bulthoff H (2002) An unexpected role for visual feedback in vehicle steering control. Curr Biol 12:295–299

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wallis G, Chatziastros A, Tresilian J, Tomasevic N (2007) The role of visual and nonvisual feedback in a vehicle steering task. J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform 33:1127–1144

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wann JP, Swapp DK (2000) Why you should look where you are going. Nat Neurosci 3:647–648

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wilkie RM, Wann JP (2002) Driving as night falls: the contribution of retinal flow and visual direction to the control of steering. Curr Biol 12:2014–2017

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wilkie RM, Wann JP (2003) Eye-movements aid the control of locomotion. J Vis 3:677–684

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wilkie RM, Wann JP, Allison RS (2008) Active gaze, visual look-ahead, and locomotor control. J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform 34:1150–1164

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson M, Chattington M, Marple-Horvat DE (2008) Eye movements drive steering: reduced eye movement distribution impairs steering and driving performance. J Mot Behav 40:190–202

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgment

This research was supported by Human Frontier Science Program (Grant RGP 03/2006).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Steven Cloete.

Appendices

Appendix 1

Analogue measurement of graphics system delay: End-To-End Latency

One of the crucial aspects of this study is the length and variability of delays experienced by our drivers between turning the steering wheel and seeing a change in the virtual environment. In order to measure this delay accurately we made use of a 100 MHz Techtronix storage scope (TDS3014) which recorded the analogue voltage input to the red channel of the projector. The simulator was initially set up to produce a blank screen. A second channel fed to the oscilloscope directly from a console button on the steering wheel. This button press was used to trigger recording of the red channel voltage of the projector. At the same time, the simulator was programmed to immediately generate a test image comprising a half red, half black field as soon as it detected the button press—see Fig. 6. The elapsed time between the button press and the first frame of the test image (the end-to-end latency (Morice et al. 2008) was taken as a measure of system delay. Twenty such measurements were taken at the two update rates under investigation. As expected, the latency was significantly affected by update rate. At 72 Hz the mean delay was 68.50 ms (SD = 7.07 ms), significantly lower than that at 7.2 Hz (M = 121.72 ms, SD = 25.68 ms), t(19) = 9.62, P = 1E-8. In addition to a higher mean end-to-end latency, the variability was over three times higher at the lower update rate.

Fig. 6
figure 6

a Illustration of analogue measurement of End-to-End Latency; b an example trace with the 72 Hz update rate

Appendix 2

Results of three-way repeated-measures ANOVA conducted on four instability variables in Experiment 2. See Table 5 and Fig. 7.

Table 5 Three-way ANOVA results for four instability variables
Fig. 7
figure 7

Cell means from three-way analyses of instability variables in Experiment 2

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Cloete, S., Wallis, G. Visuomotor control of steering: the artefact of the matter. Exp Brain Res 208, 475–489 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-010-2530-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-010-2530-x

Keywords

Navigation