New standard to improve driver ergonomics
Staff -- Test & Measurement World, 12/1/2003
A new standard fromthe ISO offers recommendations to assist designers, manufacturers, and suppliers regarding visibility-related issues affecting transport information and control systems. Examples of these systems include traffic information, navigation and route guidance, and vehicle/roadway warning and control systems.
The standard, ISO 15008:2003 (Road vehicles—Ergonomic aspects of transport information and control systems—Specifications and compliance procedures for in-vehicle visual presentation), provides specifications for the image quality and legibility of displays under different viewing conditions (daylight, dusk, and night conditions) as well as for the overall appearance of text and symbols, including character contrast, size, spacing, stroke width, and color. The new standard will improve the ease with which the driver can recognize the in-vehicle text and symbols while the car is in motion, thus decreasing mental workload and visual distraction. .
According to Gary Rupp, chair of the subcommittee that developed the new standard, visual displays can have an important impact on the driver's behavior and safety. "ISO 15008," he says, "will help ensure that visual displays used in transport information and control systems are legible before they are put on the market for customer use." ISO 15008:2003 costs 102 Swiss francs and is available from ANSI (www.ansi.org) in the US and directly from the ISO (www.iso.ch)
