Theoretical Interpretation of Driver’s Gaze Considering Optic Flow and Seat Position

Abstract Driver analysis, especially revealing where drivers look, is a key factor in understanding the driver’s perception. Several studies have examined the driver’s gaze behavior; there are mainly two hypotheses: Tangent Point and Future Path Point. Tangent Point is a point on the inner side of the lane, where the gaze direction of the driver becomes tangential with respect to the lane edge. Future Path Point is an arbitrary point on the ideal path for an individual driver on the road. These gaze points have been verified by various psychological experiments. In this study, we used optic flow theory to figure out the driver’s gaze issue in terms of the extent to which drivers can perceive the future path of the vehicle. The simulation results of our proposed theory were compared to the results in the literature. The simulation results are consistent with the previous results; therefore, it appears that the driver’s gaze can be interpreted by optic flow theory.