Determination of English Letter Height of Road Signs for Foreign Drivers Based on Animation Technology

摘要

The aim of this study is to develop a new English letter height model for guide signs to solve the problem that foreign drivers are often not able to read the letter in time and decrease the accident rate. The model was built according to the visual and kinematic theory based on the legibility process of drivers and animation technology. Then the key parameters of the model were validated by some special designed simulation experiments. The experiment was designed to determine the minimum visual angle needed. The relationship between the information units and the reaction time was studied based on animation technology. The disappearing distance was computed according to the geometric relationship considering road width, the height of the sign and the disappearing angle. In the end, the letter height for various design speed was computed. The model of the height of the English letter in the Chinese guide sign was built at the first time and it is projected to play a big role in the traffic safety.