Publications

Journal Articles

Beier, S., Berlow, S., Boucaud, E., Bylinskii, Z., Cai, T., Cohn, J., Crowley, K., Day, S., Dingler, T., Dobres, J., Healey, J., Jain, R., Jordan, M., Kerr, B., Li, Q., Miller, D., Nobles, S., Papoutsaki, A., Qian, J., Rezvanian, T., Rodrigo, S., Sawyer, B., Sheppard, S., Stein, B., Treitman, R., Vanek, J., Wallace, S., & Wolfe, B. (2022). Readability Research: An Interdisciplinary Approach. Foundations and Trends in Human–Computer Interaction. 16:4, 214-324, http://dx.doi.org/10.1561/1100000089 PDF

Wallace, S., Bylinskii, Z., Dobres, J., Kerr, B., Berlow, S., Treitman, R., Kumawat, N., Arpin, K., Miller, D., Huang, J., & Sawyer, B. (2022). Towards Individuated Reading Experiences: Different Fonts Increase Reading Speed for Different Individuals. ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction. 29:4, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/3502222 PDF

Reimer, B., Mehler, B., Muñoz, M., Dobres, J., Kidd, D., & Reagan, I. (2021). Patterns in transitions of visual attention during baseline driving and during interaction with visual–manual and voice-based interfaces, Ergonomics, 64:11, 1429-1451, DOI: 10.1080/00140139.2021.1930197 PDF

Sawyer, B., Wolfe, B., Dobres, J., Chahine, N., Mehler, B., & Reimer, B. (2020). Glanceable, legible typography over complex backgrounds, Ergonomics, 63:7, 864-883, DOI: 10.1080/00140139.2020.1758348 PDF

Sawyer, B., Dobres, J., Chahine, N., & Reimer, B. (2020). The great typography bake-off: comparing legibility at-a-glance, Ergonomics, 63:4, 391-398, DOI: 10.1080/00140139.2020.1714748 PDF

Reagan, I. J., Kidd, D. G., Dobres, J., Mehler, B., & Reimer, B. (2019). The effects of age, interface modality, and system design on drivers’ attentional demand when making phone calls while driving on a limited-access highway. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 60, 536–548. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2018.10.020 PDF

Perlman, D., Samost, A., Domel, A., Mehler, B., Dobres, J., & Reimer, B. (2019). The relative impact of smartwatch and smartphone use while driving on workload, attention, and driving performance. Applied Ergonomics, 75, 8–16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apergo.2018.09.001 PDF

Kidd, D. G., Reimer, B., Dobres, J., & Mehler, B. (2018). Changes in driver glance behavior when using a system that automates steering to perform a low-speed parallel parking maneuver. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 58, 629–639. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2018.07.002 PDF

Dobres, J., Wolfe, B., Chahine, N., & Reimer, B. (2018). The effects of visual crowding, text size, and positional uncertainty on text legibility at a glance. Applied Ergonomics, 70, 240–246. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apergo.2018.03.007 PDF

Wolfe, B., Dobres, J., Rosenholtz, R., & Reimer, B. (2017). More than the Useful Field: Considering peripheral vision in driving. Applied Ergonomics, 65, 316–325. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apergo.2017.07.009 PDF

Kidd, D. G., Dobres, J., Reagan, I., Mehler, B., & Reimer, B. (2017). Considering visual-manual tasks performed during highway driving in the context of two different sets of guidelines for embedded in-vehicle electronic systems. Transportation Research Part F: Psychology and Behaviour, 47, 23–33. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2017.04.002. PDF

Dobres, J., Chrysler, S. T., Wolfe, B., Chahine, N., & Reimer, B. (2017). Empirical Assessment of the Legibility of the Highway Gothic and Clearview Signage Fonts. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 2624, 1–8. http://doi.org/10.3141/2624-01. Recipient of the 2016 Traffic Control Devices Committee Best Paper Award & 2017 Young First Author Award, Operations Section. PDF

Dobres, J., Chahine, N., & Reimer, B. (2017). Effects of ambient illumination, contrast polarity, and letter size on text legibility under glance-like reading. Applied Ergonomics, 60(C), 68–73. PDF

Wolfe, B., Dobres, J., Kosovicheva, A., Rosenholtz, R., & Reimer, B. (2016). Age-related differences in the legibility of degraded text. Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications, 1–13. PDF

Reimer, B., Mehler, B., Reagan, I., Kidd, D., & Dobres, J. (2016). Multi-Modal Demands of a Smartphone Used to Place Calls and Enter Addresses during Highway Driving Relative to Two Embedded Systems. Ergonomics 59(12) 1565-1585. PDF

Dobres, J., Chahine, N., Reimer, B., Gould, D., Mehler, B., & Coughlin, J. F. (2016). Utilising psychophysical techniques to investigate the effects of age, typeface design, size and display polarity on glance legibility. Ergonomics, 59(10), 1377–1391. PDF

Dobres, J., Chahine, N., Reimer, B., Gould, D., & Zhao, N. (2016). The effects of Chinese typeface design, stroke weight, and contrast polarity on glance based legibility. Displays, 41(C), 42–49. PDF

Mehler, B., Kidd, D., Reimer, B., Reagan, I., Dobres, J., & McCartt, A. (2015). Multi-modal assessment of on-road demand of voice and manual phone calling and voice navigation entry across two embedded vehicle systems. Ergonomics, 1–24. PDF

Wang, Y., Reimer, B., Dobres, J., & Mehler, B (2014). The sensitivity of different methodologies for characterizing drivers’ gaze concentration under increased cognitive demand. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology & Behaviour, 26(Part A), 227–237. PDF

Reimer, B., Mehler, B., Dobres, J., Coughlin, J. F., Matteson, S., Gould, D., Chahine, N., and Levantovsky, V (2014). Assessing the Impact of Typeface Design in a Text Rich Automotive User Interface. Ergonomics. PDF

Dobres, J. & Watanabe, T. (2012). Response feedback triggers long-term consolidation of perceptual learning independently of performance gains. Journal of Vision, 12(8):9, 1–10, doi:10.1167/12.8.9. PDF

Dobres, J. & Seitz, A. (2010). Perceptual learning of oriented gratings as revealed by classification images. Journal of Vision, 10(13):8, 1–11, doi:10.1167/10.13.8. PDF

White Papers

Dobres, J., Klarl, K., Kindelsberger, J., & Reimer, B. (2018). TypeTester: A Case Study of Behavioral Data Collection Using a Smartphone Platform. MIT AgeLab Technical Report 2018-1 (December 6, 2018). Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA. PDF

Reimer, B., Mehler, B., Dobres, J., & Coughlin, J.F. (2015). Assessing the Demands of Voice Based In-Vehicle Interfaces - Phase II Experiment 4 – An Exploratory Study of Driver Behavior With and Without Assistive Cruise Control (ACC) (2015a). MIT AgeLab Technical Report 2015-15 (December 10, 2015 Update). Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA. PDF

Mehler, B., Reimer, B., Dobres, J., & Coughlin, J.F. (2015). Assessing the Demands of Voice Based In-Vehicle Interfaces - Phase II Experiment 3 - 2015 Toyota Corolla (2015b). MIT AgeLab Technical Report 2015-14 (November 28, 2015). Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA. PDF

Mehler, B., Reimer, B., McAnulty, H., Dobres, J., Lee, J. & Coughlin, J.F. (2015). Assessing the Demands of Voice Based In-Vehicle Interfaces - Phase II Experiment 2 - 2014 Mercedes CLA (2014t). MIT AgeLab Technical Report 2015-8 (November 28, 2015). Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA. PDF

Mehler, B., Reimer, B., Dobres, J., McAnulty, H., & Coughlin, J.F. (2015). Assessing the Demands of Voice Based In-Vehicle Interfaces - Phase II Experiment 1 - 2014 Chevrolet Impala (2014b). MIT AgeLab Technical Report 2015-6A (November 30, 2015). Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA. PDF

Reimer, B., Mehler, B., Reagan, I., Kidd, D., & Dobres, J. (2015). Multi-Modal Demands of a Smartphone Used to Place Calls and Enter Addresses during Highway Driving Relative to Two Embedded Systems. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, Arlington. PDF

Mehler, B., Reimer, B., Lavallière, M., Dobres, J. & Coughlin, J.F. (June 2014). Proposed system for the objective evaluation of the safety benefits of technologies and initial rating values. MIT AgeLab Technical Report No. 2013-27c. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA. PDF

Mehler, B., Reimer, B., Dobres, J., McAnulty, H., Mehler, A., Munger, D. & Coughlin, J. (2014). Further Evaluation of the Effects of a Production Level ‘Voice-Command’ Interface on Driver Behavior: Replication and a Consideration of the Significance of Training Method (No. 2014-2)(pp. 1–191). Massachusetts Institute of Technology, AgeLab. PDF

Dobres, J., Chahine, N., Reimer, B., Mehler, B., & Coughlin, J. F. (2014). Revealing Differences in Legibility Between Typefaces Using Psychophysical Techniques: Implications for Glance Time and Cognitive Processing (No. 2014-3) (pp. 1–28). Massachusetts Institute of Technology, AgeLab. PDF

Dobres, J., Chahine, N., Reimer, B., & Mehler, B. (2014). An Exploratory Psychophysical Investigation of the Relative Glance Legibility of Chinese Typefaces (No. 2014-4) (pp. 1– 15). Massachusetts Institute of Technology, AgeLab.

Dobres, J. & Reimer, B. (2014). Assessing the Legibility of Four Sans-Serif Typefaces Under Glance-Like Reading Conditions. (No. 2014-8) (pp. 1-8). Massachusetts Institute of Technology, AgeLab.

Reimer B., Mehler B., Dobres J., & Coughlin, J. (2013). The Effects of a Production Level “Voice-Command” Interface on Driver Behavior: Reported Workload, Physiology, Visual Attention, and Driving Performance. PDF

Dobres, J., Reimer, B., Mehler, B., & Coughlin, J. (2012). A Scale for Rating In-Vehicle Technologies Based on Factors of Safety, Comfort, and Convenience.

Dobres, J., Reimer, B., Mehler, B., & Coughlin, J. (2012). Scaling the Mountain: How Consumers Use Rating Scales in Purchase Decisions.

Mehler, B., Reimer, B. & Dobres, J. (2012). An Evaluation of the Visual Demands of Portable Telematics Technologies among Young Adult Drivers. PDF

Presentations

Cai, T., Wallace, S., Rezvanian, T., Dobres, J., Kerr, B., Berlow, S., Huang, J., Sawyer, B., & Bylinskii, Z. (2022). Personalized Font Recommendations: Combining ML and Typographic Guidelines to Optimize Readability. In Designing Interactive Systems Conference (DIS ‘22). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 1–25. https://doi.org/10.1145/3532106.3533457 PDF

Wallace, S., Dobres, J., Bylinskii, Z., & Sawyer, B. (2022). Space for readability: effects on reading speed from individuated character and word spacing. Vision Science Society Annual Meeting. St. Pete Beach, FL (Poster)

Wallace, S., Dobres, J., & Sawyer, B. (2021). Considering the speed and comprehension trade-off in reading mediated by typography. Vision Science Society Annual Meeting. Virtual Meeting (Poster). PDF

Parikhal, L., Abraham, H., Mehler, A., McWilliams, T., Dobres, J., Chahine, N., & Reimer, B. (2018). These Labels are Nuts: Challenges to Safe Product Identification for Nut-Allergic Consumers. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting. October 2018, 62(1), 987–991. PDF

Sawyer, B., Dobres, J., Chahine, N., & Reimer, B. (2017). The cost of cool: Typographic style legibility in reading at a glance. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting. October 2017, 61(1), 833–837. PDF

Dobres, J., Chrysler, S. T., Wolfe, B., Chahine, N., & Reimer, B. (2017). Signs of the Times: Empirical Assessment of the Legibility of the Highway Gothic and Clearview Signage Fonts. Proceedings of the Transportation Research Board 96th Annual Meeting, 17-04920, 1–16 (Talk).

Dobres, J., Reimer, B., & Chahine, N. (2016). The Effect of Font Weight and Rendering System on Glance-Based Text Legibility. Proceedings of the 2016 International Conference on Automotive User Interfaces and Interactive Vehicular Applications. Ann Arbor, MI (Talk). PDF

Sawyer, B., Lee, J., Dobres, J., Mehler, B., Coughlin, J., & Reimer, B. (2016). Effects of a Voice Interface on Mirror Check Decrements in Older and Younger Multitasking Drivers. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting, September 2016, 60(1), 16-20. PDF

Dobres, J. (2016). Spacing, spotlights, and spurs: Recent research on digital typography and related design factors. Presentation at the 3^rd International Conference on Automotive Cockpit HMI. Ann Arbor, MI. Invited Speaker

Dobres, J., Reimer, B., Mehler, B., Foley, J. et al., The Influence of Driver’s Age on Glance Allocations during Single-Task Driving and Voice vs. Visual-Manual Radio Tuning. SAE Technical Paper 2016-01-1445, 2016, doi:10.4271/2016-01-1445. PDF

McWilliams, T., Brown, D., Reimer, B., Mehler, B., & Dobres, J., Observed Differences in Lane Departure Warning Responses during Single-Task and Dual-Task Driving: A Secondary Analysis of Field Driving Data. SAE Technical Paper 2016-01-1425, 2016, doi:10.4271/2016-01-1425. PDF

Mehler, B., Reimer, B., Dobres, J., Foley, J., & Ebe, K., Additional Findings on the Multi-Modal Demands of ‘Voice-Command’. Interfaces SAE Technical Paper 2016-01-1428, 2016, doi:10.4271/2016-01-1428. PDF

Brown, D., Reimer, B., Mehler, B., & Dobres, J (2015). An on-road study involving two vehicles: observed differences between an auditory and haptic lane departure warning system. Proceedings of the 2015 International Conference on Auotomotive User Interfaces and Interactive Vehicular Applications, Nottingham, UK, September 1-3, 2015. doi:10.1145/2809730.2809747 (Poster)

McWilliams, T., Reimer, B., Mehler, B., Dobres, J., & Coughlin, J (2015). Effects of age and smartphone experience on driver behavior during address entry: Comparison between a Samsung Galaxy and an Apple iPhone. Proceedings of the 2015 International Conference on Auotomotive User Interfaces and Interactive Vehicular Applications, Nottingham, UK, September 1-3, 2015 (Talk)

Samost, A., Perlman, D., Domel, A.G., Reimer, B., Mehler, B., Mehler, A., Dobres, J., & McWilliams, T. (2015). Comparing the relative impact of smartwatch and smartphone use while driving on workload, attention, and driving performance. Proceedings of the 59^th Annual Meeting of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, Los Angeles, October 27-30, 2015, Los Angeles, CA. PDF

Dobres, J., Reimer, B., Parikhal, L., Wean E. & Chahine, N (2015). The incredible shrinking letter: how font size affects the legibility of text viewed in brief glances. 8^th International Driving Symposium on Human Factors in Driver Assessment, Training and Vehicle Design, Salt Lake City, UT, June 22-25, 2015 (Talk)

McWilliams, T., Reimer, B., Mehler, B., Dobres, J., & McAnulty, H (2015). A secondary assessment of the impact of voice interface turn delays on driver attention and arousal in field conditions. 8^th International Driving Symposium on Human Factors in Driver Assessment, Training and Vehicle Design, Salt Lake City, UT, June 22-25, 2015 (Talk) PDF

Beckers, N., Schreiner, S., Bertrand, P., Reimer, B., Mehler, B., Munger D., & Dobres, J (2014). Comparing the demands of destination entry between Google Glass and the Samsung Galaxy S4. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting 2014. 58: 2156. DOI: 10.1177/1541931214581453. PDF

Dobres, J., Chahine, N., Reimer, B., Gould, D. & Mehler, B (2014). A Pilot Study Measuring the Relative Legibility of Five Simplified Chinese Typefaces Using Psychophysical Methods. Proceedings of the 2014 International Conference on Automotive User Interfaces and Interactive Vehicular Applications. Seattle, WA (Talk).

Reimer, B., Mehler, B., Dobres, J., McAnulty, H., Mehler, A., Munger, D. & Rumpold, A (2014). Effects of an ‘Expert Mode’ Voice Command System on Task Performance, Glance Behavior & Driver Physiology. Proceedings of the 2014 International Conference on Automotive User Interfaces and Interactive Vehicular Applications. Seattle, WA (Talk).

Munger, D., Mehler, B., Reimer, B., Dobres, J., Pettinato, A., Pugh, B. & Coughlin, J (2014). A Simulation Study Examining Smartphone Destination Entry while Driving. Proceedings of the 2014 International Conference on Automotive User Interfaces and Interactive Vehicular Applications. Seattle, WA. PDF

Dobres, J., Chahine, N., Reimer, B., Gould, D., Mehler, B., Pugh, B., & Arredondo, S (2014). An art meets science: subtle typeface design characteristics affect word legibility in brief glances. Vision Science Society Annual Meeting. St. Pete Beach, FL (Poster).

Dopart, C., Haggman, A., Thornberry, C., Mehler, B., Dobres J., & Reimer, B (2013). A driving simulation study examining destination entry with iPhone iOS 5 Google Maps and a Garmin portable GPS system. Proceedings of the 57th Annual Meeting of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, San Diego, CA PDF

Dobres, J., Potter, A., Reimer, B., Mehler B., Mehler A. & Coughlin, J (2013). Assessing the impact of “brain training” on changes in driving performance, visual behavior, and neurophysiology. Driving Assessment Conference (Talk). PDF

Dobres, J (2013). Balancing the scales: How consumers manage information overload and online trust in the digital age. Older & Online: Engaging the Digital Life of the 45+ Consumer, an MIT AgeLab member event (Talk).

Yang, Y., Reimer, B., Mehler B. & Dobres, J (2013). A field study assessing driving performance, visual attention, heart rate and subjective ratings in response to different types of cognitive workload. Driving Assessment Conference (Talk).

Dobres, J & Watanabe, T (2011). A new role for feedback: Feedback consolidates perceptual learning. Vision Science Society Annual Meeting, Naples, FL (Poster).

Dobres, J & Watanabe, T (2010). The effects of feedback on perceptual learning. Vision Science Society Annual Meeting, Naples, FL (Talk).

Dobres, J & Seitz, A. R. (2009). Perceptual learning of oriented gratings as revealed by classification images. Vision Science Society Annual Meeting, Naples, FL (Poster).

Publications

Journal Articles

Popular Press Articles

White Papers

Presentations