Abstract

SA.11.02

History of optical signals for traffic regulation

Draeger J.¹, Harsch V.^2
1Universitäts-Augenklinik Hamburg, ²Neubrandenburg

Objective: Today for signal transmission in traffic different optical, acustical or other physical or technical means are used for information.The different kinds of traffic (navigation, road or rail, later airtransport) early brought the necessity of traffic regulation. This, from the very beginning in ancient times, was achieved mostly by means of optical signals. These even nowadays are the most important methods.
Methods: This from the very beginning needed minimum requirements for vision, color discrimination, dark adaptation and even visual field. For historical reasons it was the navigation which developed the first visual signals. Besides the historical development of the different signals soon the methods to check the requirements were developed.
Results: National and international requirements were very different. Only within the last 50 years by international cooperation general standards for the different traffic modes were accepted.
Conclusions: The technical development of optical signals for the different kinds of traffic from ancient times up to nowadays will be demonstrated. Also the development of minimum requirements for the different visual functions is explained.

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