{"id":346702,"date":"2025-12-16T09:49:22","date_gmt":"2025-12-16T09:49:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/uncategorized\/uw-study-finds-touch-screens-in-cars-create-a-multitasking-problem-that-impacts-driving-geekwire\/"},"modified":"2025-12-16T09:49:22","modified_gmt":"2025-12-16T09:49:22","slug":"uw-study-finds-touch-screens-in-cars-create-a-multitasking-problem-that-impacts-driving-geekwire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=346702","title":{"rendered":"UW study finds touch screens in cars create a multitasking problem that impacts driving \u2013 GeekWire"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"byline author vcard small\"><span class=\"text-uppercase\"><strong>by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.geekwire.com\/author\/kurt\/\" title=\"Posts by Kurt Schlosser\" class=\"author url fn\" rel=\"author\">Kurt Schlosser<\/a><\/strong><\/span> on <time class=\"published\" datetime=\"2025-12-16T00:31:34+00:00\">Dec 15, 2025 at 4:31 pm<\/time><time class=\"updated d-none\" datetime=\"2025-12-16T00:31:40+00:00\">December 15, 2025 at 4:31 pm<\/time><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Behind the wheel of a UW driving + touchscreen simulation\" width=\"840\" height=\"473\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/hK4kPOPyj_M?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Don\u2019t take your eyes off the road to read new research from the University of Washington.<\/p>\n<p>In partnership with Toyota Research Institute, UW researchers are exploring how modern touch screens in cars affect driving now that dashboard knobs and buttons are increasingly a thing of the past. The results could help auto manufacturers design safer, more responsive screens and in-car interfaces.<\/p>\n<p>The team\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/dl.acm.org\/doi\/10.1145\/3746059.3747683\">study<\/a>, which was presented this fall at the ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology in Busan, Korea, adds to what we already know about the dangers of distracted driving when it comes to phone use.<\/p>\n<p>Participants driving a vehicle simulator and interacting with a touch screen (see video above) were given memory tests that mimic the mental effort demanded by traffic conditions and other distractions, the UW reported. Sensors tracked their gaze, finger movements, pupil diameter and electrodermal activity. <\/p>\n<p>While driving, participants had to touch specific targets on a 12-inch touch screen, similar to how they would interact with apps and widgets. They did this while completing three levels of an \u201cN-back task,\u201d a memory test in which the participants hear a series of numbers, 2.5 seconds apart, and have to repeat specific digits.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Researchers found that when people try to multitask behind the wheel, their driving and their ability to use a touch screen both suffer. The simulator car drifted in its lane, and speed and accuracy using the screen declined while driving.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTouch screens are widespread today in automobile dashboards, so it is vital to understand how interacting with touch screens affects drivers and driving,\u201d said co-senior author\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/zwly9k6z.r.us-east-1.awstrack.me\/L0\/https:%2F%2Ffaculty.washington.edu%2Fwobbrock%2F\/1\/0100019b240ffb75-28c4dcfc-9a4e-4b8b-ae1d-f23f84fe7b11-000000\/gfl8MpLS3xBEHl-xz6ZdTuzmRno=456\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Jacob O. Wobbrock<\/a>, a UW professor in the Information School. \u201cOur research is some of the first that scientifically examines this issue, suggesting ways for making these interfaces safer and more effective.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.popularmechanics.com\/cars\/car-technology\/a64543699\/touch-screens-making-cars-worse\/\">Popular Mechanics<\/a> wrote about the mental bandwidth and finger precision that many modern infotainment screens require in cars.<\/p>\n<p>Based on the UW\/Toyota findings, researchers suggest future in-car touch screen systems might use simple sensors in the car \u2014 eye tracking, or touch sensors on the steering wheel \u2014 to monitor drivers\u2019 attention and cognitive load. Based on these readings, the car\u2019s system might adjust the touch screen\u2019s interface to make important controls more prominent and safer to access.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Kurt Schlosser on Dec 15, 2025 at 4:31 pmDecember 15, 2025 at 4:31 pm Don\u2019t take your eyes off the road to read new research from the University of Washington. In partnership with Toyota Research Institute, UW researchers are exploring how modern touch screens in cars affect driving now that dashboard knobs and buttons [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":346703,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[132462,139350,114453,99547,97319,169121],"tags":[1341,7957,650,16649,169122,14569,64515,4106,28380,2677,430],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-346702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-auto","category-car-tech","category-driving","category-research","category-tech","category-university-of-washington","tag-cars","tag-create","tag-driving","tag-finds","tag-geekwire","tag-impacts","tag-multitasking","tag-problem","tag-screens","tag-study","tag-touch"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>UW study finds touch screens in cars create a multitasking problem that impacts driving \u2013 GeekWire - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=346702\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UW study finds touch screens in cars create a multitasking problem that impacts driving \u2013 GeekWire - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"by Kurt Schlosser on Dec 15, 2025 at 4:31 pmDecember 15, 2025 at 4:31 pm Don\u2019t take your eyes off the road to read new research from the University of Washington. 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