Department of Industrial Design, College of Computer Science and Technology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310027, People's Republic of China.
Department of Industrial Design, College of Computer Science and Technology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310027, People's Republic of China.
Appl Ergon. 2021 May;93:103361. doi: 10.1016/j.apergo.2021.103361. Epub 2021 Jan 18.
Taillight shape in a vehicle provides an essential lighting signal that enables the vehicle to be seen from the rear at night, thereby preventing rear-end crashes. This study aims to investigate the effects of taillight shape on vehicle conspicuity, and proposes ergonomic taillight shape solutions to vehicle designers and manufacturers. Two complementary experiments were conducted to examine three types of taillight shapes at three design levels. The first experiment was designed to investigate the detection speed of a driver and the fixation duration and fixation counts on leading vehicles with different taillight shapes, based on an eye-tracking methodology. The second experiment was designed to investigate the dynamic visual searching performance of a trailing driver for leading vehicles with different taillight shapes, based on a visual search task. The experimental results indicated that a long line-shaped taillight (striplight) was the optimal ergonomic solution for enhancing vehicle conspicuity. Vehicles with an enclosed contour-shaped taillight were more salient than those with an open contour-shaped taillight. Moreover, the experience and gender of the driver and the vehicle-observer distance were found to be closely related to vehicle conspicuity, and therefore, must be considered by vehicle designers when applying a specific taillight shape design. This study provides insights into the taillight shape design that not only aid vehicle designers or manufacturers in enhancing vehicle safety but also enable potential vehicle buyers to choose a safe lighting system.
车辆尾灯形状提供了重要的照明信号，使车辆在夜间从后方被看到，从而防止追尾事故。本研究旨在探讨尾灯形状对车辆可见性的影响，并为车辆设计师和制造商提出符合人体工程学的尾灯形状解决方案。进行了两项互补实验，以检查三种尾灯形状在三个设计水平上的效果。第一项实验旨在通过眼动追踪方法研究不同尾灯形状的车辆驾驶员的检测速度、对前车的注视持续时间和注视次数。第二项实验旨在通过视觉搜索任务研究不同尾灯形状的后车驾驶员的动态视觉搜索性能。实验结果表明，长线形尾灯（条状灯）是增强车辆可见性的最佳符合人体工程学的解决方案。封闭轮廓形状的尾灯比开放轮廓形状的尾灯更显眼。此外，驾驶员的经验和性别以及车辆观察者距离与车辆可见性密切相关，因此，车辆设计师在应用特定的尾灯形状设计时必须考虑这些因素。本研究提供了关于尾灯形状设计的见解，不仅有助于车辆设计师或制造商增强车辆安全性，还使潜在的车辆购买者能够选择安全的照明系统。
