Gaze-reactive brightness control of car onboard display for ensuring visibility during night driving

In this study, we proposed gaze-reactive brightness control of car onboard displays to ensure driver visibility and explored the method´s effectiveness. In Experiment 1, we investigated the effect of an onboard display light for visibility and confirmed our proposed method´s effectiveness. In Experiment 2, we developed the method presented in Experiment 1 and further explored its effectiveness under settings close to those for an actual onboard display and driving operations. The results indicated the effectiveness of gaze-reactive brightness control at maintaining visibility for both onboard displays and dark outside fields. We also investigated the impressions and psychological effects of our proposed method to evaluate its acceptability and application potential. The questionnaire results showed better impressions and positive emotional states of users when the method was used. The present results showed that the gaze-reactive brightness control of onboard displays helps drivers maintain visibility and provides positive psychological effects.