Eye Gaze Controlled Head-up Display

A myriad of infotainment systems has found its applications in the automobile industry with the burgeoning demand for user comfort and interaction. However, operating such infotainment systems entertain secondary tasks to be carried out at the expense of the primary task of driving. This can increase the cognitive load on the driver and has the potential to keep road safety at stake. This paper presents an intelligent interactive head-up display (HUD) on the windscreen of the driver that does not require them to take eyes off the road while undertaking secondary tasks like playing music, operating vent controls, watching navigation map, and so on. The interactive HUD allows the user to navigate and make selections using eye gaze. The HUD also incorporates provisions to estimate driver’s cognitive load and distraction level. User studies show that the system improves driving performance in terms of mean deviation from lane in an ISO 26022 lane changing task compared to touch screen system and participants can undertake ISO 9241 pointing tasks in less than 2 s on average inside a car.