Vision and Driving

Overview

The Vision and Driving research group is led by Dr Joanne Wood, a Professor in the School of Optometry and Vision Science, and in the  Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation (IHBI) at QUT. The group is part of IHBI's Vision Improvement Domain.

The research activities of the Vision and Driving group are focused on the investigation of the relationship between different vision conditions, ageing and driving performance under real world conditions.

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Research leader
Research team
QUT External collaborators
  • Professor Louise Hickson (University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia)
  • Professor Alex Chapparo (Wichita State University, Kansas, USA)
  • Professor Kent Higgins (The Lighthouse Inc, New York, USA)
  • Professor Fred Owens (Franklin and Marshall College, Pennsylvania, USA)
  • Professor Rick Tyrrell (Clemson University, South Carolina, USA)
  • Professor Cynthia Owsley (University of Alabama, Alabama, USA)
Organisational unit
Lead unit Faculty of Health Other units
Research area
Vision Improvement
 

Details

Driving is a complex task involving integration of a range of visual, cognitive and psychomotor skills, many of which are impaired with increasing age. Given that driving is a highly visual task, it has been suggested that the high prevalence of visual impairment in older populations contributes to the decrement in driving performance and safety seen in older drivers. The research activities of the Vision and Driving team focus on investigating a range of research issues concerning the relationship between vision, ageing and driving performance. The research is multidisciplinary in nature involving collaborations with national and international researchers from a range of disciplines including psychology, engineering, audiology, neurology, ophthalmology, cognitive ageing, surveying and human movement.