In recent years the number of warning functions in cars has grown rapidly. Traditionally these have been single areas dedicated to specific warning functions. Manufacturers have found it difficult, time consuming and costly to respond to legislative changes or market variations.
An information display was developed that is microprocessor driven and provides a single area displaying warning symbols supplemented by an alphanumeric read out. This comprised a 32 × 32 dot matrix and warning frame, backed up by a 14 segment, 10 × 2 character message centre.
The Automotive Ergonomics Unit embarked on a joint programme with the company to evaluate the information display.
The ergonomics evaluation addressed itself to the recognition of the warning symbols in dot matrix and conventional ISO style format. An experiment was conducted in which 200 drivers tested the readability of 14 warning symbols when presented in dot matrix and conventional ISO style format. The symbols were presented as slides using a projection tachistoscope.
No difference was found in ease and accuracy of recognition between the two formats of warning symbols.