Evaluation of the safety and usability of touch gestures in operating in-vehicle information systems with visual occlusion

Nowadays, many automobile manufacturers are interested in applying the touch gestures that are used in smart phones to operate their in-vehicle information systems (IVISs). In this study, an experiment was performed to verify the applicability of touch gestures in the operation of IVISs from the viewpoints of both driving safety and usability. In the experiment, two devices were used: one was the Apple iPad, with which various touch gestures such as flicking, panning, and pinching were enabled; the other was the SK EnNavi, which only allowed tapping touch gestures. The participants performed the touch operations using the two devices under visually occluded situations, which is a well-known technique for estimating load of visual attention while driving. In scrolling through a list, the flicking gestures required more time than the tapping gestures. Interestingly, both the flicking and simple tapping gestures required slightly higher visual attention. In moving a map, the average time taken per operation and the visual attention load required for the panning gestures did not differ from those of the simple tapping gestures that are used in existing car navigation systems. In zooming in/out of a map, the average time taken per pinching gesture was similar to that of the tapping gesture but required higher visual attention. Moreover, pinching gestures at a display angle of 75° required that the participants severely bend their wrists. Because the display angles of many car navigation systems tends to be more than 75°, pinching gestures can cause severe fatigue on users' wrists. Furthermore, contrary to participants' evaluation of other gestures, several participants answered that the pinching gesture was not necessary when operating IVISs. It was found that the panning gesture is the only touch gesture that can be used without negative consequences when operating IVISs while driving. The flicking gesture is likely to be used if the screen moving speed is slower or if the car is in heavy traffic. However, the pinching gesture is not an appropriate method of operating IVISs while driving in the various scenarios examined in this study. •We investigate the applicability of touch gestures in IVISs from the viewpoints of both driving safety and usability.•Panning gesture is the only touch gesture that can be applicable to operate IVISs while driving.•Flicking gesture is likely to be used if the screen moving speed is slower or if the car is in heavy traffic.•Pinc