Estimating eye adaptation for typical luminance values in the field of view while driving in urban streets

To predict perceived glare it is necessary to understand the luminance level to which the human visual system is adapted. When driving a car the luminance in our field of view varies from very low levels (below 1 cd/ m(2)) measured at the road surface to very high levels (higher than 10000 cd/m(2)) measured at e.g. car headlights. Using eye-tracking we determined the (averaged) luminance profile as a function of time for the light falling onto the fovea while driving a car in an urban (Dutch) area. We applied early temporal adaptation models to this luminance profile and concluded that also dark adaptation is so fast that the minimally perceived luminance follows the actual luminance almost instantly.