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To explore the impact of virtual tourism on travel intention, this study developed the model incorporating virtual tourism content and form, visual appeal, presence, virtual attachment, and travel intention. Eye movement experiments, scenario experiments, and questionnaire surveys were integrated. Analysis of 48 eye movement datasets and 210 survey responses indicated that virtual tourism affected travel intention mostly through visual appeal: (1) Regarding visual appeal, videos of real scenes were stronger than videos of virtual scenes, and videos of virtual scenes were stronger than pictures of virtual scenes. (2) Visual appeal had a direct positive effect on travel intention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• New evidence on the pseudoneglect and its impact on driving safety. • Differences in the visual scan patterns between experience and inexperienced drivers. • New evidence from lab experiments using simulator and eye-tracker. • Experienced drivers have more skilled visual scan pattern than inexperienced drivers. • Inexperienced drivers can improve space-scanning ability via eye movement training. The leftward bias of driving visual attention has been found to explain the role of driving experience in the visual attention strategy; even though the results reported in the literature are not always consistent. This study aims to explore the driving attention characteristics and the eye movement patterns by using a simulated driving experiment in conjunction with an eye-tracker device. 31 young inexperienced drivers (undergraduate students, average age 21) and 30 old experienced drivers (taxi drivers, average age 36) took part in the experiment. Results show that the eye movement patterns of the drivers have certain similarity in the occurrence of subtle asymmetries of visual attention favouring left space (the direction of the driving in the experiment was right-side) and that they are related to the right hemisphere specialization for spatial attention. However, in the more experienced drivers the leftward eye movement tends to shift toward the centre or even rightward to pay attention to the hazard events on road. These results suggest that inexperienced drivers are initially aroused by natural biological leftward visual attention and likely to develop central and rightward eye movement strategy for safety diving purpose. The implications of this study suggest that, despite the existence of natural visual attention bias, the left asymmetries in visual scan in inexperienced drivers still can be modified by driving trainings that focus on the hazard situation on road. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an evaluation of the effectiveness of two types of deceleration markings on freeways in China: fishbone-shaped (FS) markings and edge-rate (ER) markings. An actual 4-lane, 6-km long freeway in Province Hebei was created in a driving simulator and used for the experiments. Three scenarios of deceleration markings were adopted: one without markings, one with FS markings, and the third with ER markings. For each scenario, three traffic flow levels were adopted (low, medium, and heavy). The appropriate dimensions of deceleration markings were first established using relevant design guidelines and then used to develop the simulation scenarios using Multigen Creator software. Sixty drivers carried out the simulation experiments with eye tracker equipment. The adequacy of deceleration markings was analyzed with respect to speed, perceived distance, pupil diameter, and geometric parameters. The results showed that both types of deceleration markings made a certain effect on vehicle speed, drivers’visual behavior, and mental characteristics. However, the effect of the FS markings was more pronounced than that of the ER marking. Specifically, the FS markings showed a speed reduction of 12.3 km/h to 15.2 km/h and a perceived distance of 70 m to 90 m, compared with 6.7 km/h to 9.9 km/h and 40 m to 60 m, respectively, for the ER markings. Application comments of the results are provided in the conclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Eye movement and driving behavior were used to evaluate situation awareness (SA). • The variable message sign gives drivers a higher SA level. • The variable message signs (VMS) have a speed-limiting effect on vehicles. • Experienced drivers have better SA than inexperienced drivers. • Eye movement is a sensitive SA indicator. The driving environment in the freeway exit areas is complex, and the installation of relevant signs can enhance the creation of a safe and smooth exit area environment. This study investigated the situation awareness (SA) scores of two types of drivers using different signs in the freeway exit areas and the correlation between drivers' eye movement, driving behavior, and SA scores. The driving tasks were divided into two situations: continuing on the mainline and entering the exit ramp. The independent variables included scene type (static speed limit signs, static speed limit signs plus variable message signs, variable speed limit signs, variable speed limit signs plus variable message signs), and participant type (experienced and inexperienced participants). The dependent variables were SA, eye movement, and driving behavior. Each participant completed a driving simulation experiment with the two driving tasks, totaling eight scenes. The SA scores were measured using the Situation Awareness Global Assessment Technique (SAGAT). The driving behavior and eye movement were collected during the experimental data analysis segment, and the sensitivity indicators for evaluating drivers' SA were determined by calculating the correlation with the SAGAT scores. This paper focuses on applying variable message signs (VMS) to speed limits in freeway exit areas from the driver's perspective to enhance driving safety. The findings showed that drivers have better SA in scenes with VMS, and experienced drivers have better SA than inexperienced drivers in the same scene. The VMS affects speed control, and eye movement is a sensitive SA indicator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The indicators were collected based on three levels of situation awareness (SA). • The drivers' SA assessment system was built using grey correlation analysis. • The constructed backpropagation neural network model can effectively predict SA. Based on combining the relevant studies on situation awareness (SA), this paper integrated multiple indicators, including eye movement, electroencephalogram (EEG), and driving behavior, to evaluate SA. SA is typically divided into three stages: perception, understanding and prediction. This paper used eye movement indicators to represent perception, EEG indicators to represent understanding, and driving behavior indicators to represent prediction. After identifying indicators for evaluating SA, a driving simulation experiment was designed to collect data on the indicators. 41 subjects were recruited to participate in the investigation, and the experimenter collected data from each subject in a total of 9 groups. After removing 4 groups of invalid data, 365 groups of valid data were finally obtained. The grey correlation analysis was used to optimize the SA indicators, and 10 SA evaluation indicators were finally determined. There were the average fixation duration, the nearest neighbor index, pupil area, the percentage power spectral density values of the 3 rhythmic waves (θ, α, β), rhythmic wave energy combination parameters (α / θ), mean speed, SD of speed and acceleration. Taking the optimized 10 indicators as input and the SA scores as output, a backpropagation neural network model with a topological structure of 10-8-1 was constructed. 75% of the data were randomly selected for model training, and the final network training's mean square error was 0.0025. Using the remaining 25% of data for verification, the average absolute error and average relative error of the predicted results are 0.248 and 0.046, respectively. This showed that the model was effective, and it was feasible to evaluate the SA by using the data of eye movement, EEG and driving behavior parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The Entropy weight-TOPSIS method was used to evaluate nine experimental schemes. • The increase in road speed limit will cause a more significant mental load to drivers. • The workload of the driver under the visual distraction task is greater than that of the driver under the cognitive distraction task. • Distraction tasks impose a more significant workload on drivers than increased road speed limit. Traffic accidents are common in advanced warning areas of a maintenance work zone. One of the reasons for the accident is that the complex driving environment of the warning area makes drivers need to change lanes and speed frequently. Another reason is that driving distractions shift the driver's mental workload and make the drivers unable to complete the driving task well. The paper aimed to examine the impact of visual and cognitive distractions on the driver's mental workload, eye movements, and driving behaviour when driving in advanced warning areas of the maintenance work zones. Thirty-two participants (mean age = 23.97 years) participated in the experiment and completed 3 advanced warning area simulation scenes. The road initial speed limit of simulation scenes was different: 60 km/h, 80 km/h and 100 km/h. The drivers needed to pass three scenes under three types of distraction tasks (no task, visual task and cognitive task). Six indices were used to evaluate the effect of the advanced warning area and the distracting secondary tasks on the driver's mental workload: two related to eye movements, two related to driver behavior, and two related to the electroencephalogram. The TOPSIS analysis was used to solve the problem of multi-evaluation indices comparison, sorting and selection. The results show that the driver has higher vehicle control ability under the distraction-free task condition than in other scenes. Furthermore, the impact of visual distraction on drivers is more significant than that of cognitive distraction, suggesting more visual attention is required for drivers when passing the complex working zone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The internal cause of return trip effect was studied. • The return trip effect was more efficient for the drivers on the unfamiliar road driving. • The major index of the return trip effect was time perception and cognitive load. When traveling by car, the driver normally feels that the return trip is shorter than the outbound trip. The reason for this feeling, called return trip effect, is not clear. To explore the internal causes of this return trip effect, an indoor driving simulation experiment and a real car driving experiment were performed in this study. Questionnaires were used to obtain the estimated time of the outbound and return trips of the drivers. An eye tracker and an electroencephalograph equipment were used to record driver's eye movement and EEG data in the real-car driving experiment. The physiological indices and questionnaire results showed that the difference in the driver's cognitive loads of the outbound and return trips was the internal cause of the return trip effect. Drivers who were unfamiliar with the road had a different cognitive load between the two trips, which resulted in the return trip effect. However, drivers who were familiar with the road did not experience a return trip effect due to the close cognitive loads of the two trips. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Drivers from three language backgrounds (Chinese, foreigners who passed and did not pass the Chinese proficiency test) participated in the driving simulation experiment. • A driving simulator and an eye tracker were used to obtain eye movement and driving behaviour data for both monolingual and bilingual guide sign scenes. • Bilingual guide signs on highways have a greater impact on the drivers than the monolingual guide signs. • The maximum number of names of places (destinations) on the bilingual guide signs is recommended to be 5. • The English place names on the bilingual guide signs showed limited benefit to foreign drivers. As China has become more attractive for foreigners to travel or work, some Chinese-English bilingual guide signs have been adopted on the highways for the convenience of foreign drivers. This research examined the effectiveness of Chinese-English bilingual guide signs on highways in China for drivers with different language backgrounds. The study involved three different groups of participants: Chinese (Group C), foreigners who passed the Chinese proficiency test HSK (Group FC), and foreigners without Chinese proficiency test (Group F). A driving simulator and an eye tracker were used to obtain eye movement and driving behaviour data for both monolingual and bilingual guide sign scenes. The results showed that, for Groups C and FC, their performance in the two scenes had little difference when the number of Chinese place (destination) names on the sign was 5 or less. However, the performance of Groups C and FC in the bilingual guide sign scene was worse than that in the Chinese guide sign scene when the number of place names exceeded 5. Moreover, the participants' performance worsened as the number of place names increased for all different groups within the same scene. Thus, the threshold of the number of place names for bilingual guide signs on highways appears to be 5. Actually, the English place names on the bilingual guide signs did not have much practical effect on the drivers, since the letters of the place names were too small to be quickly seen and the translation was inaccurate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Yellow color guardrail belt was designed to improve driver's vigilance near the freeway exit. • A simulation experiment was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the yellow color guardrail belt. • The participants were more focused on searching for exit-sign information in the yellow color guardrail belt scenario than the baseline scenario. • In the yellow color guardrail belt scene, the participants tend to reduce the speed in advance near the freeway exit. If the information on freeway exits is not effective or driver vigilance is not adequate, the driver may not be able to obtain the information in time, resulting in missing the exit or making a forcible lane-change that could cause an accident. To allow the driver to obtain sufficient exit information in time and get off the freeway safely, this study proposes the creation of a guardrail painted with a yellow color and located prior to the exit. The yellow color guardrail belt (YCB) aims at informing the drivers that there is an exit ahead and to pay attention to the exit information, reminding them to adjust vehicle state and driving behavior in time. A driving simulator experiment with two different scenarios (YCB scenario and baseline scenario with no YCB) were used to explore the effectiveness of the YCB. Data on eye movement, electroencephalograph, and driving behavior of the participants were obtained. The results showed that compared with the baseline scenario, in the YCB scenario, the fixation points were mainly distributed in front of the road and the fixation duration on the guide signs was relatively longer; the EEG ratio (θ + α) / β was smaller; the driver decelerated more smoothly; and the steering wheel angle was smaller. In addition, the statistical analysis showed that there were significant differences in the fixation duration, the EEG ratio (θ + α) / β, and steering wheel angle between the two scenarios. This indicated that participants' vigilance in the YCB scenario was significantly improved, where the participants paid more attention to the guide signs and had better control of the vehicle. This study recommends a new device for reminding drivers to pay attention to freeway exits, which would greatly stimulate driver's sense of space on the exit and improve traffic safety on freeways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• From the perspective of driver's mental workload, the impact of the multi-board guide signs on traffic safety is studied. • 32 participants drove on three simulated scenes guided by single-board and multi-board road signs with different number of place names as 5, 7, 9, and 11. • The multi-board signs generate more mental workload than the single-board sign as result of harsh driving performance. • Drivers are likely to reduce the fixation duration and increase the number of saccades on the multi-board signs. The rapid development of expressways has led to an increasing number of place names that must be displayed on road guide signs. As a result, multi-board guide signs have been increasingly set up on expressways. The main aim of this study was to analyze the effect of the directional road sign displayed on multi and single-board signs on driver mental workload and behavior. 32 participants including 16 females (mean age = 24.7 years, standard deviation = 1.9 years) participated in the experiment and completed 3 driving simulation scenes. The setting of each scene-sign board was different: 1 board, 2 boards, and 3 boards. The driver needed to reach the designated destination according to the guidance of the road signs. Eye tracker was used to measure the fixation, saccade and electroencephalogram (EEG) was used to measure the alpha (8−13 hz) band absolute power in different signage scenarios. There are two major findings of the study. First, when the number of place names is less than or equal to 7, the multi-board sign generates more mental workload than the single-board sign does. The alpha band power of the driver's frontal area under the multiple boards is lower and affects driving performance (the deceleration is greater). Second, when the number of place names is more than 7, there is no significant difference in the effect on mental workload whether multi or single-board sign is used. However, compared to the single-board sign, drivers in the case of multi-board sign are likely to reduce the fixation duration and increase the number of saccades. The results suggest that it is not necessary to use multi-board signs when the number of place names is less than 7. These findings provide more safety considerations for the setting of multi-board guide signs in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]