Test on US Market's Receptivity to Aspheric Driver Side Mirrors 2012-01-0076

This paper examines driver receptivity to an aspheric mirror, which contains an outer part with gradually-changing curvature and a flat inner part that we developed to reduce blind spots on the side and to the rear of the driver side of a vehicle. Reflection in a mirror where curvature changes gradually can, generally, cause binocular rivalry depending on curvature settings. We compared this mirror with a conventional mirror under actual driving conditions in the market to examine the levels of burden an aspheric mirror imposes on the driver in three categories of subjective measures: cognitive burden (effort), misrecognition, and physical burden. In terms of the cognitive burden (effort) and misrecognition, it was shown that an aspheric mirror can be used, after learning how to use it, with the same level of burden as a conventional mirror. As for the physical burden, it was indicated that there is no special type of burden that is specific to aspheric mirrors. Based on these findings, we determined that US drivers are receptive to the newly developed mirror.