Citation

Porathe T, Strand L. Eur. Transp. Res. Rev. 2011; 3(1): 35-45.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2011, European Conference of Transport Research Institutes, Publisher Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s12544-011-0050-9

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This article validates the method to measure visibility called conspicuity, first proposed by Dutch psychologist Alexander Wertheim, which uses the context of the surrounding environment to determine and object's overall visibility. Researchers used ordinary traffic signs placed against different backgrounds which simulated different environments. Subjects were employed to establish a conspicuity index by fixing their sight on the sign and slowly deviating their gaze until the sign was no longer visible through the corner of their eye. Research results showed there is clear correlation between the conspicuity index and intuition related to sign visibility. The researchers conclude that the conspicuity index is effective for measuring quantitatively the visibility of objects when taking context into account.