Smartwatches vs. Smartphones

Giang, Wayne C.W.; Chen, Huei-Yen Winnie; Donmez, Birsen · 2019 · Crossref

DOI: 10.4018/978-1-5225-7909-0.ch024

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Summary

This study investigates whether the unique features of smartwatches mitigate or exacerbate driver distraction compared to smartphones, specifically focusing on notification engagement. While previous research examined voice calling, this work addresses the gap in understanding visual-manual interactions with notifications, a primary marketed feature of wearables. The authors hypothesized that the proximity and vibrotactile feedback of smartwatches might increase involuntary distraction and that drivers might misperceive the associated risks. The research comprised two driving simulator experiments. Experiment I involved six participants who read aloud brief text notifications (addresses) presented on a Pebble smartwatch or an LG Nexus 5 smartphone. Experiment II expanded to twelve participants, including five current smartwatch users, who manually selected answers to arithmetic questions presented as notifications. This task required deeper cognitive processing and manual interaction. Both studies measured visual engagement, glance characteristics, self-reported risk perception, and, in Experiment II, driving performance metrics such as brake reaction times and lane position variability. The results indicated that smartwatches induced greater distraction than smartphones. In Experiment I, participants engaged with smartwatch notifications faster but took longer to complete the reading task. Smartwatch use resulted in longer average glance durations and a significantly higher rate of glances exceeding 1.6 seconds, a threshold associated with increased crash risk. Experiment II reinforced these findings, showing that participants took longer to reply to notifications and exhibited longer overall glance durations on the smartwatch. Crucially, smartwatch use led to longer brake reaction times during lead vehicle braking events compared to smartphone use. Both devices increased lane position variability relative to a no-device baseline. The study concludes that smartwatches pose significant road safety consequences, potentially exacerbating distraction due to their accessibility and alert intensity. A notable finding was the disconnect between actual performance and driver perception: participants rated smartwatch use as risky but believed it deserved traffic penalties equal to or less than smartphone use. Given that legislation in regions like Ontario does not explicitly classify smartwatches, this misperception may lead to inappropriate usage. The findings suggest that the ease of access provided by wearables does not mitigate distraction and may, in fact, worsen driving performance metrics compared to traditional handheld devices.

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Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-10; verification: verified.

Topics

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• temporal
• visual
• mobile phones
• visual manual

Information type

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• Empirical Findings: observational prevalence, behavioral performance data