It is possible to buy excellent books on human vision as well as about
automotive lighting. Unfortunately, these books have little or no common
content. But in fact these fields do overlap. Providing optimal
conditions for human vision is what automotive lighting is all about.
Our motivation for writing this book arises from interdisciplinary st-
ies of human vision and lighting. Initially we intended the book to
provide background information on human vision to engineers working in
auto- tive lighting. At the same time we planned to introduce basic
concepts of automotive lighting to experts in human vision. However
because of the intricate connections between human vision and automotive
lighting, it turns out that the book provides new insights to anyone
interested in either or both subjects. The subject matter is complex and
spans a number of disciplines from psychology to mechatronics. Hence
there are very few individuals who are experts in all fields. Looking at
the nature of human vision, it is surprising to find out how much every
one of us takes it for granted. Rarely are we aware of how we use vision
predominantly to verify our internal model of our surroundings. Many
accidents, particularly at night, stem from the fact that our internal
model misrepresented a significant part of our surrou- ings. Taking
knowledge on human vision into account in the design of - ture
automotive lighting systems reduces the risk of accidents at night.
