The Impacts of Touchscreen and Physical Control Interface Characteristics on Driver Distraction and Attention Management

Breakthroughs in interface technologies has encouraged automaker to increasingly replace physical control elements with touchscreens for the center console interface. Whereas the physical elements provide natural haptic and auditory cues supporting interactions even when they are not visually attended to, touchscreen interactions necessitate visual attention because there is not much to feel on the flat screen. Therefore, in-vehicle touchscreens may lead drivers to divert more glances to the touchscreen and away from the roadway, possibly resulting in greater time with eyes off the road and serious safety concerns (Fitch et al., 2013; Olson, Hanowski, Hickman, & Bocanegra, 2009).