https://finance.yahoo.com/news/killing-people-technology-made-car-120013196.html
In the late 1980s, the U.S. Army turned to outside experts to study how pilots of Apache attack helicopters were responding to the torrent of information streaming into the cockpit on digital screens and analog displays. The verdict: not well.
The cognitive overload caused by all that information was degrading performance and raising the risk of crashes, the researchers determined. Pilots were forced to do too many things at once, with too many bells and whistles demanding their attention. Over the next decade, the Army overhauled its Apache fleet, redesigning cockpits to help operators maintain focus.
Cognitive psychologist David Strayer was among those called in to help the Army with its Apache problem. Since then, he has watched as civilian cars and trucks have filled up to an even greater extent with the same sorts of digital interfaces that trained pilots with honed reflexes found so overwhelming — touch screens, interactive maps, nested menus, not to mention ubiquitous smartphones. In his lab at the University of Utah, he's been documenting the deadly consequences.
[...] When companies do talk about distracted driving, they tend to frame it as a problem with cellphones. Their solution: Integrate the same functionality and more into dashboard interfaces and voice-recognition systems.
[...] A Honda spokesperson said by email that "the biggest thing we can do to reduce distraction is to reduce the likelihood of a driver looking at their mobile phone while driving" by putting more focus on infotainment systems, through which the company is making "an attempt to minimize distraction while satisfying the driver's ease of use and access to desired information."
[...] The ability to control features such as air conditioning and music playlists via voice commands theoretically improves safety by letting drivers keep their eyes on the road. But with the technology still a work in progress, scientists are learning it can be just as dangerous as fiddling with a smartphone.
In a 2019 paper, Strayer's team reported that completing tasks using voice commands took much longer than other kinds of interaction with smartphones and infotainment systems. The extra time significantly increased the driver's cognitive load. Believing that verbal communication doesn't interfere with driving shows a "naive understanding of how language works," Strayer said. Brain scans show that "language uses a lot more of the parts of the brain than driving does."
(Score: 5, Interesting) by krishnoid on Friday July 08 2022, @03:36AM (2 children)
If you simulate attention using a model of it being a limited resource, then maybe every screen could be limited to consuming a certain amount of "attention", based on candidate metrics -- something other than "the number of parts of the brain" that it uses.
Then find how many people can handle tasks requiring "paying" attention to everything overlaid onto the screen. I mean, these terms are used every day but how about actually simulating it as an economy of resource allocation rather than as a computer [youtu.be]?
(Score: 3, Funny) by DannyB on Friday July 08 2022, @04:01PM (1 child)
Simple fix.
Have a committee of pilots to fly the aircraft. That way there is more than enough attention which can be paid without attention deficit spending.
It is so ordered.
How often should I have my memory checked? I used to know but...
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Friday July 08 2022, @07:34PM
I think the truth to managing that kind of complexity is somewhere in between [newyorker.com] (search for "October 30"). Managing everything at once, though, is a different story. Maybe we need better training mechanisms for that kind of brain activity [psypost.org], too.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by KritonK on Friday July 08 2022, @07:54AM (4 children)
Back in the 1980s, when I took my driving test, I was given a booklet with useful information, on which I would be examined. The booklet had a chapter called "driver distractions", describing things that could distract the driver and should therefore be avoided. The most serious distraction back then was having a cup of coffee with you; by the time you took a sip, conditions on the road could have changed, leading to an accident.
These days, taking a sip of coffee is the least dangerous of distractions, as drivers make phone calls, consult their GPS, and do who knows what else. Keeping an eye on the road is probably a distraction from all those activities!
(Score: 4, Insightful) by owl on Friday July 08 2022, @01:07PM (3 children)
With the amount the makers have moved to touch screens for some newer cars, taking a sip of coffee is one of the last "non-driving" actions the driver can take without taking their eyes off the road. You can reach, lift, sip, and replace the cup without looking away from the road. Can't say that for any of the "control button" that have moved to that touchscreen.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by sgleysti on Friday July 08 2022, @07:05PM (2 children)
100%. The first thing I did in my latest car was figure out how to turn off the screen on the radio. I know I'm not the best driver; the last thing I need is another distraction. Thankfully, this car is old enough and cheap enough that all the things I want to adjust while driving are distinguishable by feel. That's super important to me.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by FatPhil on Saturday July 09 2022, @08:53AM (1 child)
You've probably put yourself well into the top half simply by having awareness of your limitations. Driving is one of the skills which is most over-estimated amongst the population, I think about 80-90% consider themselves above average. More are happy to admit that they're only of average or below average intelligence than admit to equivalent driving skills.
I'm a pedestrian 99% of the time, and I wish more people like you were at the wheel.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 09 2022, @03:53PM
> You've probably put yourself well into the top half simply by having awareness of your limitations.
This. The other ways to get into the top half are to not drive while distracted (phone/texting, etc) and to not drive drunk or otherwise impaired. It's actually pretty easy to be an above average driver.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by r1348 on Friday July 08 2022, @08:05AM (2 children)
Traffic-related death rates are much higher in countries with older cars: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_traffic-related_death_rate [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 08 2022, @11:51AM (1 child)
It would be really hard to parse that data without more context. For instance, I don't think seatbelt laws are very common around the world, newer cars have better safety devices and design, etc.
(Score: 2) by r1348 on Saturday July 09 2022, @08:54AM
Well that's my point: distraction possibilities in newer cars don't offset the safety gains.
(Score: 2) by Opportunist on Friday July 08 2022, @10:18AM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7eFdTGC3N4 [youtube.com]
(Score: 4, Insightful) by SomeGuy on Friday July 08 2022, @12:11PM (1 child)
They are only just now figuring this shit out? I've known this since day one when they started putting this obnoxious shit in cars.
I think I mentioned before how a few years ago I was riding with someone in a "company" vehicle and between the two of use neither of us could figure how to completely operate the air conditioner because it was at least partially operated through a beaten up touch screen media center. W, T, and F.
Don't forget to download our FREE driver education app/aware so you can get more alerts on your cell phone at the most inconvenient time! You NEED alerts! This modern driver education class has been sponsored by... Apple(R)(TM). Get buried by a smertphone today!
(Score: 4, Informative) by owl on Friday July 08 2022, @01:03PM
The WTF is the maker cared more about their margins than about their customers ability to even operate the AC. One touch screen, and software, viewed in the isolation as the BOM cost for building the car, is less expensive than all the usual buttons and knobs. And, couple this lowered BOM cost with the fact that too many purchasers see "touch screens" in their cars as futuristic status symbols and you get the makers falling over themselves to move everything to that one single touch screen to trim costs and appeal to foolish customers -- driver saftey on the road be damned.
(Score: 5, Informative) by FuzzyTheBear on Friday July 08 2022, @08:32PM
While in the USA i was on a project where i had to program touchscreens. The manager was an apache test pilot and he explained the how and why he wanted them done the way he asked me .. went a bit like this ..
"i need the same buttons at the bottom and they flip pages. There's too much information in a flight situation that i got to be aware of and i can't for a second look at the screen and have to second guess where ill find my commands and information. All the buttons at the same place so i can just use my spatial memory and just point where i know the info and commands are."
Basically .. the information overload was already known at the time and the less there is but the best quality and relevant it is the better we all are off.
That is true .. the more the distractions the more the accidents.
Same thing with cell phones. Originally the engineers knew it and built the phones with interlocks that made impossible their use while on anything other than park. That i approved of. The telephones were telephones and we were not flodded with useless information.
It's important to note that i installed a lot of the initial network in Quebec and Ontario . The race for coverage. At the time we had to carry bricks ( mitsubishis weighing a ton ) up towers to make path alignments for the microwave links. While more lightweight the new phones do not have the power required to cover the 30 miles or so to the next tower. They're stupid gadgets that work okish in the city and surroundings but the phones are craploads of information useless to make what a phone is meant to do : do phone calls.
Same thing in cars , screens everywhere , distractions and useless information isw everywhere in newer models.
Where's my oil pressure gauge ? Where's my coolant temperature gauge ? Battery charge meter ?
This is important info. They removed most of it to save pennies and instead fill the cockpit with totally useless information.
Really .. we haven't gone forward with mobs and cars , we went backwards. Marketing and sales in charge of engineering is the worst thing that can happen.
What ? a jaccuzi with an internet connection ?
Yeah .. they gone that stupid.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by hendrikboom on Friday July 08 2022, @11:14PM (3 children)
I dread the day I have to get a new car. Not because of the expense. Because of the touch screen.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by anubi on Saturday July 09 2022, @01:38AM
That's one of the main reasons I opted for a 25 year old diesel van off Craigslist instead of new.
Yes, it will eventually have an Arduino type processor in it.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07DKD79Y9/ref=sspa_mb_hqp_detail_mobile_aax_0?ie=UTF8&psc=1&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9ocXBfcGhvbmVfc2hhcmVk [amazon.com]
Which will use any android phone/ tablet as HMI.
I will be mimicking this:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QJ18PalKByE [youtube.com]
To use, I will logon to the esp32, as I would a hotspot.
Then my android HMI controller app can talk to my esp32. I can put all my diagnostics and monitoring crap there. My Arduino will only control starter motor enable, fuel flow enable, and the check engine light.
Everything else is data logging, trend analyses, and nuisances for anyone else who tries to start this thing - you know, tease them until they give up - you like the Tooboola/Outbrain experience. Let em get it started, kill it, flash the check engine light at em. So I don't have to be the selfish SOB that won't lend his van to people who befriend me just to get free use of my resources.
Of course, I can then logon to my esp and and get the info on anything I have it programmed to track...glow plugs, temperature histories, pressure histories, engine/differential RPM/ratios for transmission slippages, engine vibration analyses ( V8 - I should get four equal torque shoves per revolution. Have the computer bin all eight cylinders, and report graphically each cylinders contribution to the workload ).
That kinda thing.
Although I am diesel, I have a gasser instrument cluster. With lots of unused blinky lights I can use.
My intent is when I get done, it will look and work almost exactly as it does now, unless one pressures me into letting them drive it. I am talking mandatory valet, van moocher, and midnight auto supply folks.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 09 2022, @03:59PM (1 child)
I also dread the day I have to get a new car, because of the touch screen.
Luckily I can put that day off for awhile, I've inherited a 2014 car with very low miles (older family member) and it happens to be the last year of that model with only a central "info display" for temp/clock/miles-to-empty (or similar).
I'm doing preventative maintenance, rustproofing (I'm in a road salt area) and anything else I can think of to make this car last for 20 years.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 10 2022, @12:34AM
My problem is far- sightedness.
If it is closer than about five feet, it goes out of focus.
Meaning I need to have a convex lens ( reading glasses, 3.00 or so ) in the optical path to augment what I can no longer do.
I can still see gauge pointers fine, but reading menus and hitting the appropriate hotspot on a touchscreen on a moving vehicle while driving poses quite a challenge for me.
The traffic is distant, the controls closeup, and I can no longer do things by feel.
And they think answering a phone was bad?