There’s a problem with most of the highway signs currently being used in the U.S.: Overglow. The signs are fairly legible in the daytime, but at night, when they’re illuminated solely by the reflected light from car headlights, reading becomes trickier. A New York Times article and accompanying slideshow (via Mike the Mad Biologist) demonstrates the problem:
What was clear text during the daytime becomes an illegible blob at night. The problem, it seemed, was the tiny spaces inside of letters — the loop of an “a” or an “e,” for example. At long distances, at night, and particularly for elderly drivers, these characters became difficult to distinguish. But the U.S. highway administration doesn’t change fonts on a whim. How do you determine if a prospective font is superior? The first step is almost more about aesthetics than science:
Researchers analyzed fonts used in highway signs around the world, but each presented its own problems. Eventually they realized they’d need to design an entirely new font. The candidate that emerged was Clearview, designed by Don Meeker and James Montalbano. Their new font avoided overglow by expanding the size of those open spaces, and by adding a few extra distinguishing elements such as a small hook at the bottom of lowercase “l”s. You can see the difference in these two sample signs. Clearview is on the right:
The next step is testing. The initial test was done in as realistic a setting as possible:
Intrigued by the early positive results, the researchers took the prototype out onto the test track. Drivers recruited from the nearby town of State College drove around the mock highway. From the back seat, Pietrucha and Garvey recorded at what distance the subjects could read a pair of highway signs, one printed in Highway Gothic and the other in Clearview. Researchers from 3M came up with the text, made-up names like Dorset and Conyer — words that were easy to read. In nighttime tests, Clearview showed a 16 percent improvement in recognition over Highway Gothic, meaning drivers traveling at 60 miles per hour would have an extra one to two seconds to make a decision.
The final version of the font improved on these numbers even more, for over a 60 percent improvement in legibility in certain circumstances. The Clearview font has now been approved for highway use by 20 states. Look for it on a road sign near you soon!
By: Dave Munger
Retirado de: http://scienceblogs.com/cognitivedaily/2007/08/roadway_psychology_selecting_t.php
