Four Eyes See More Than Two: Shared Gaze in the Car

Purposeful collaboration of driver and front-seat passenger can help in demanding driving situations and therefore increase safety. The characteristics of the car, as a context, limit the collaboration possibilities of the driver and front-seat passenger, though. In this paper, we present an approach that supports successful collaboration of the driver and front-seat passenger with regard to the contextual specifics. By capturing the front-seat passenger’s gaze and visualizing it for the driver, we create a collaborative space for information sharing in the car. We present the results from a study investigating the potentials of the co-driver’s gaze as means to support the driver during a navigational task. Our results confirm that the co-driver’s gaze can serve as helpful means to support the collaboration of driver and front-seat passenger in terms of perceived distraction and workload of the driver.