Driving Simulator for Vision Research

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): In this project, a multi-institutional group of investigators from the Boston area are submitting a proposal to purchase a state-of-the-art driving simulator with an integrated eye and head tracking system. This multi-user plan brings together investigators who have many years of experience of using an earlier version of the requested simulator with investigators who have never before used a driving simulator. While all users will benefit from the new features, improved software and hardware, and better reliability of the new simulator, new users will additionally benefit from the opportunity to extend their ongoing research programs to a broader range of real-world activities, and to conduct studies that simply would not possible with their current equipment. The project will strengthen existing collaborations between the users and will promote new collaborations. The driving simulator will be used for studies addressing questions related to safety of driving with different types of vision impairments, to understand more about compensatory eye and head movement behaviors of drivers with vision impairment, and whether optical visual aids and image enhancement techniques can improve specific aspects of their driving performance. Studies will also address the cognitive demands of driving and the development of new, more sensitive and useful measures of driving ability without having to conduct on-road driving tests. The investigators include: Drs. Bex, Bowers, Bronstad, Luo and Peli from the Schepens Eye Research Institute; Drs. Wolfe and Horowitz from the Visual Attention Laboratory, Brigham and Women's Hospital; and Dr. Fiser from Brandeis University. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: In this project, a multi-institutional group of investigators propose to purchase a new state-of-the-art driving simulator to be used in studies addressing questions of high relevance to public health, including driving safety, driving with impaired vision, and development of new measures of driving ability that could be used without having to conduct on-road driving tests.