C.M. Haslegrave

The Seventh International Conference series on Vision in Vehicles was held in Marseilles in September 1997. This event was run in conjunction with the Applied Vision Association, the Ergonomics Society and with the participation of INRETS (Institut National de Recherche sur les Transports et leur Sécurité).This volume presents the selected and edited proceedings. The papers at the conference were ordered into sessions, from driver-specific aspects to interfacing with the new in-vehicle systems. These sessions are mirrored in the ordering of the chapters. The conference is long established and regularly draws representatives from the key international research centres working in this popular and diverse transportation area.

This volume contains contributions illuminating much of the current research occurring in the area of visual perception. It encompasses all aspects of vision and its relationship to vehicle design, including both the internal and external design of the vehicle as well as the perceptual and cognitive limitations of the vehicle controller.Issues specifically related to the vision of the driver are initially addressed and the problems of vehicle glazing and light transmission are considered. The major topics of visual perception and vehicle control are covered in three related chapters encompassing: collision avoidance, vehicle signalling systems and the acquisition of visual information. Moving on to the external environment and its relationship to vision, traffic signs are discussed. Approaches to the measurement and modelling of driver behaviour are dealt with and the area of telerobotic control of vehicles is considered. In-vehicle displays are covered in two related chapters addressing issues of visual workload and effects of display type.It is hoped that the book, contributed to by experts from a diverse range of disciplines, including optometrists, psychologists, physiologists, human factors specialists and engineers, will stimulate the progression of research in this area, as effectively as the preceding volumes did.