Distraction Lab researchers at Ford use high-tech goggles to reduce distracted driving

The researchers at Ford’s Human Machine Interface Verification Laboratory, also known as the “Distraction Lab”, are making use of the modern occlusion goggles in order to try and reduce distracted driving. Their study, which is in its final phase, consists in using such tool to find out the causes and effects for driving distractions by determining how many times drivers take their eyes off the road. The gathered information will help reduce the risks that are implicated in distracted driving, being teens the most vulnerable type of drivers to these distractions.

The “occlusion” goggles are part of Ford’s research for anti-distraction technology and its purpose is to keep track of the time drivers spend with eyes on and off the road. During the occlusion tests, the subject wears goggles in which he/she views text and graphic data through an LCD screen while it blinks very quickly: when the goggles blink open it means the subject’s eyes are off the road or looking away, while closed goggles mean the driver is keeping the eyes on the road.