Can Three-Dimensional Multiple Object Tracking Training Be Used to Improve Simulated Driving Performance?
A Pilot Study in Young and Older Adults
30 sessions of 3D-MOT training promotes safer driving skills on advanced driving simulators in both younger and older adults.
Aim
To investigate if NeuroTracker training can transfer to improved driving skills as measured by state-of-the-art driving simulators.
Method
20 young adults and 14 older adults were divided into active and active-control groups. The active group completed 30 sessions of NeuroTracker training. Before and after training all participants were assessed using a high-fidelity driving simulator, which measured numerous aspects of driving performance.
Results
The results of the study revealed that both young and older adults showed significant improvements in simulated driving performance following the NeuroTracker training. Specifically this included better lane keeping abilities, quicker reaction times to hazards, and enhanced overall situational awareness. The older adult group exhibited larger overall gains in driving performance. The researchers concluded that this study provides preliminary evidence that NeuroTracker training may improve driving safety, particularly through quicker detection of or reaction to dangerous events.
October 2017
PLoS One
Highly Automated Driving: The Role of Visuo-Attentional and Executive Abilities in Take-Over Success
Performance on a multiple object tracking task predicts take-over success in simulated highly automated driving.
December 2025
Frontiers in Psychology
Aim
To determine whether visuo-attentional and executive capacities measured by multiple object tracking and related cognitive tasks are associated with take-over performance in a highly automated driving simulation.
Method
Participants completed a battery of cognitive assessments including 3D multiple object tracking (NeuroTracker), executive function measures, and additional visuo-attentional tasks. These measures were correlated with performance outcomes in a high-fidelity driving simulator requiring participants to take over control from automated driving under risk-relevant conditions.
Results
Higher dynamic tracking performance and stronger executive functioning were associated with greater take-over success in the simulated automated driving scenarios. These findings suggest that perceptual-cognitive abilities measured by 3D-MOT paradigms relate to practical visuomotor tasks beyond sport contexts, including safety-critical driving behaviors.
Driving simulator scenarios and measures to faithfully evaluate risky driving behavior: A comparative study of different driver age groups
A Pilot Study in Young and Older Adults
NeuroTracker baselines effectively predict driving safety for both younger and older adults, and experienced and inexperienced drivers.
October 2017
PLoS One
Aim
To investigate NeuroTracker baselines could be predictive of driving performance across 3 simulated scenarios, to see if these measures could be predictive of driving risks.
Method
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Results
Statistical analysis of NeuroTracker results and driving performance metric yielded significant correlations, including being predictive of driving speed, breaking speed, and reaction to dangerous events. Low NeuroTracker scores effectively predicted elevated risks of crashes. Lower NeuroTracker scores also correlated significantly with slower average driving speed for older adults, providing evidence towards the theory that driving more slowly is related to the cognitive effects of aging.
Three-dimensional multiple object tracking improves young adult cognitive abilities associated with driving: evidence for transfer to the useful field of view
Aim
To examine if NeuroTracker training transfers to useful field of view (UFOV) performance, a measure strongly associated with driving performance.
Method
Twenty healthy young adults between the ages of 23 and 33 years were recruited and evenly assigned to either a NeuroTracker training program or active control group using a math game (2048). Both groups completed 5 hours of training distributed over 5 weeks. Both groups completed pre-post standardized assessments of UFOV.
Results
The NeuroTracker training group exhibited significantly improved UFOV performance, whereas the active control group showed only a small, statistically nonsignificant improvement in the task. The researchers suggest that NeuroTracker and UFOV performance are likely dependent on overlapping cognitive abilities, and that these abilities can be trained and measured in young adults which could lead to improving driving safety.
NeuroTracker training transfers to significantly improved useful field of view, an ability strongly associated with driving skills.
NeuroReports
August 2022
Above and beyond driving abilities: toward a single index
30 sessions of 3D-MOT training promotes safer driving skills on advanced driving simulators in both younger and older adults.
February 2018
ResearchGate
Aim
To combine several tests known to assess driving fitness and propose a methodology to bring these together under a single index termed the ‘Driver’s Safety Index’.
Method
115 licensed drivers between the ages of 18 and 86 were separated into two groups: 64 young participants (average age of 29 years), and 51 older participants (average age of 77 years). Each participant was assessed on three different experimental phases. 1. Visual tests: visual acuity test (V1), stereoscopic vision test (V2), and a binocular visual field test (V3). 2. Simulator driving tests across 3 difficulty based scenarios: highway (low), rural (medium) and city (high). 3. NeuroTracker as a visuo-cognitive test. A wide range of driving performance metrics from the simulator test were analyzed for correlations with the visual tests, age, and NeuroTracker scores.
Results
There were limited correlations between driving performance and the visual tests. High NeuroTracker scores correlated strongly with high driving performance, and low scores with low driving performance, along with a strong relationship for crash risk. NeuroTracker scores were also a better predictor of driving performance than age. Driving abilities are strongly associated with NeuroTracker scores. These findings highlight the importance of visuo-cognitive abilities in the assessment of driving abilities. This study paves the way toward a single, common indicator of driving behaviour. The study authors recommend that NeuroTracker should be a component in the battery of tests for obtaining or renewing a driving license.
Three-Dimensional Multiple Object Tracking Speed Thresholds are Associated with Measures of Simulated Driving Performance in Older Drivers
A single 6-min NeuroTracker baseline is highly correlated with simulated driving crash risk and lane deviation in healthy older people.
April 2018
Sage Journals
Aim
To test the theory that driving performance is strongly associated with dynamic processing of multiple objects, by evaluating if NeuroTracker measures correlate with older driving performance in simulated scenarios.
Method
30 experienced drivers with ages ranging from 65-85 years old were tested on one session of NeuroTracker (3D-MOT), and completed up to 3 driving scenarios on the STISIM 3.0 driving simulator. 5 unexpected events were included in the scenarios to test crash risk. The correlations between NeuroTracker speed thresholds and simulator measures (crash rate, lane deviation) were then calculated.
Results
Highly significant correlations were found between NeuroTracker thresholds and both crash rate and lane deviation in the highway driving scenarios. Lower NeuroTracker scores were strongly associated with lane deviation during highway merging, and higher NeuroTracker scores related to participants being less likely to crash across different scenarios, and to have better overall lane maintenance skills. This study adds plausibility to the idea that a multiple object tracking test such as NeuroTracker could be a candidate for inclusion in an assessment battery for older drivers.