Description: Eye tracking transforms transportation design by revealing driver attention, fatigue, HUD usability, and infrastructure impact to enhance safety and experience.
In this blog, we explore how eye tracking unlocks deep insights into driver attention, fatigue, interface interaction, and infrastructure perception and how these insights shape safer vehicles, better user experiences, and smarter traffic environments.
What Is Eye Tracking in Transportation?
Eye tracking employs infrared cameras, wearable glasses, or dashboard-mounted sensors (DMS) to gather data on gaze direction, blink rate, pupil dilation, head pose, and fixation duration. These indicators gives us information on the state of the driver and may lead to better safety measures. In vehicles, systems like Tobii DMS are increasingly integrated to monitor attention and detect fatigue or distraction
Why Eye Tracking Matters in Transportation
- Enhanced Road Safety- Eye tracking solutions (Tobii) monitors indicators like eyelid closure, gaze shifts, and distraction cues to alert drivers during critical situations. These systems are being mandated by the EU (from 2024) and U.S. regulations (SAFE Act by 2027), aiming for “Vision Zero” fatalities
- Optimising In-Vehicle Interfaces- Gaze heatmaps reveal which Head-up display (HUD) elements, displays, or alerts drivers see first and which go unnoticed. This helps designers refine layouts for reduced distraction and faster information processing
- Infrastructure Analysis & Attention Mapping- Studies using eye tracking in simulator and real-road scenarios (e.g., roundabouts and intersections) reveal how layout, signage, and distractions influence gaze distribution and reaction times.
- Simulator Validation- Research shows eye-tracking measurements in simulators correspond closely to real-world gaze behavior for static road elements, validating simulators as effective testbed.
Applications Across Transportation
- Vehicle Design & User Experience- Embedded DMS (Tobii) track blinks and gaze to issue real-time warnings to the driver and alert them should there be a moment of inattention, eye tracking can also be used to optimize the HUD usability so that the important information falls in a natural line of sight of the driver while driving.
- Research – Physiological validation can also be used to for detailed behavioral analysis of the detailed behavior of the driver this can be achieved by integrating eye tracking with heart rate and also by pupillometry in driving simulators for detailed behavioural analysis
- Simulation- Eye tracking data can be used in real time to simulate situational awareness in various driving situation using advanced algorithms.
- Infrastructure & Public Transit- Eye tracking can highlight which signs and intersections receive sufficient driver attention, guiding infrastructure improvements. Recent studies evaluate gaze engagement in connective transit design, emphasising inclusive layouts for diverse demographics.
The Future of Eye Tracking in Transportation
- AI Predictive Analytics
Advanced AI built using actual eye-tracking data from drivers will anticipate fatigue or hazard before it occurs. - Global Safety Policies
Continued legislative and standards momentum (EU GSR, Euro NCAP) will drive widespread uptake of eye tracking solutions for drivers. - Human-Centered Design
Collaboration with vehicle operators will address ethical, privacy, and UI concerns for smoother adoption
