Ben Wolfe
About me
My research focuses on how we acquire visual information in real-world situations, mostly using driving as a tool to better understand visual perception, attention and behaviour, and I collaborate with researchers in the University of Toronto's Mechanical and Industrial Engineering program on much of this work. I also work on questions of digital readability, or how the appearance of text can change how we take in textual information (like this paragraph you're reading). .
Are you interested in how to apply vision science to problems in the world and are thinking about graduate school? Please get in touch.
Prior to joining the faculty at the University of Toronto in 2021, I was a senior postdoctoral associate at MIT in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences in Ruth Rosenholtz's lab. I was also affiliated with MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab. I received my Ph.D. in Psychology in 2015 from UC Berkeley, and was advised by David Whitney. I received my BA in Psychology from Boston University in 2008.
Research
How can driving teach us about vision?
Driving is a visual task that we do without appreciating its complexity. My lab studies driving in order to understand how we use vision in the world and to make data-driven recommendations to improve road safety for all road users (not just drivers!). Recently, we've been interested in why drivers miss what they're looking for (the low prevalence effect), how visual attention can fail and what the consequences of those failure might be behind the wheel, how alerts can help (and hinder) drivers, and where drivers look in rapidly evolving scenes.This work is supported by an NSERC Discovery Grant, a New Researcher Grant from the Connaught Fund and from the XSeed Program.
Does the appearance of text change readability?
We have recently started to work on questions of digital readability, or how we can take advantage of the manipulablity of text on screens to improve our ability to access information quickly and efficiently. This line of work in the lab bridges fundamental questions in vision science with applied questions in interface design, typography and communication.This work is supported by two awards from Adobe, and by a SSHRC Insight Grant.
Publications
Towards a theory of visual information acquisition in driving
Wolfe, B., Sawyer, B.D., Rosenholtz, R.
Human Factors (2020) • pdf
Wolfe, B., Sawyer, B.D., Rosenholtz, R.
Human Factors (2020) • pdf
Glanceable, legible typography over complex backgrounds
Sawyer, B.D., Wolfe, B., Dobres, J., Chahine, N., Reimer, B.
Ergonomics (2020) • pdf
Sawyer, B.D., Wolfe, B., Dobres, J., Chahine, N., Reimer, B.
Ergonomics (2020) • pdf
Rapid Holistic Perception and Evasion of Road Hazards
Wolfe, B., Seppelt, B.D., Mehler, B., Reimer, B., Rosenholtz, R.
Journal of Experimental Psychology: General (2019) • pdf
Road Hazard Stimuli (described in the JEP:General paper) • Available on OSF
Wolfe, B., Seppelt, B.D., Mehler, B., Reimer, B., Rosenholtz, R.
Journal of Experimental Psychology: General (2019) • pdf
Road Hazard Stimuli (described in the JEP:General paper) • Available on OSF
Detection of Brake Lights While Distracted: Separating Peripheral Vision from Cognitive
Load
Wolfe, B., Sawyer, B.D., Kosovicheva, A., Reimer, B., Rosenholtz, R.
Attention, Perception and Psychophysics (2019) • pdf
Wolfe, B., Sawyer, B.D., Kosovicheva, A., Reimer, B., Rosenholtz, R.
Attention, Perception and Psychophysics (2019) • pdf
Predicting road scenes from brief views of driving video.
Wolfe, B., Fridman, L., Kosovicheva, A., Seppelt, B., Mehler, B., Reimer, B., Rosenholtz, R.
Journal of Vision (2019) • pdf
Wolfe, B., Fridman, L., Kosovicheva, A., Seppelt, B., Mehler, B., Reimer, B., Rosenholtz, R.
Journal of Vision (2019) • pdf
The effects of visual crowding, text size, and positional uncertainty on text legibility at a glance.
Dobres, J., Wolfe, B. A., Chahine, N., Reimer, B.
Applied Ergonomics (2018) • pdf
Dobres, J., Wolfe, B. A., Chahine, N., Reimer, B.
Applied Ergonomics (2018) • pdf
Unifying visual space across the right and left hemifields.
Chen, Z.*, Kosovicheva, A.*, Wolfe, B. A., Cavanagh, P., Gorea, A., & Whitney, D.
Psychological Science (2018) • pdf
Chen, Z.*, Kosovicheva, A.*, Wolfe, B. A., Cavanagh, P., Gorea, A., & Whitney, D.
Psychological Science (2018) • pdf
More Than the Useful Field: Considering Peripheral Vision in Driving.
Wolfe, B.A., Dobres, J., Rosenholtz, R., & Reimer, B..
Applied Ergonomics (2017) • pdf
Wolfe, B.A., Dobres, J., Rosenholtz, R., & Reimer, B..
Applied Ergonomics (2017) • pdf
Perceiving The Roadway In The Blink Of An Eye – Rapid Perception Of The Road Environment And Prediction Of Events.
Wolfe, B., Fridman, L., Kosovicheva, A., Seppelt, B., Mehler, B., Reimer, B.
Driving Assessment (2017) • pdf
Wolfe, B., Fridman, L., Kosovicheva, A., Seppelt, B., Mehler, B., Reimer, B.
Driving Assessment (2017) • pdf
Signs of the Times: An Empirical Assessment of the Legibility of Highway Gothic and Clearview Signage Fonts.
Dobres, J., Chrysler, S. T., Wolfe, B., Chahine, N., & Reimer, B.
Transportation Research Board (2017) • pdf
Dobres, J., Chrysler, S. T., Wolfe, B., Chahine, N., & Reimer, B.
Transportation Research Board (2017) • pdf
Age-related differences in the legibility of degraded text.
Wolfe, B., Dobres, J., Kosovicheva, A., Rosenholtz, R., & Reimer, B.
Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications (2016) • pdf
Wolfe, B., Dobres, J., Kosovicheva, A., Rosenholtz, R., & Reimer, B.
Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications (2016) • pdf
Foveal input is not required for ensemble perception of emotional faces.
Wolfe, B. A., Kosovicheva, A. A., Yamanashi Leib, A., Wood, K. & Whitney, D.
Journal of Vision (2015) • pdf
Wolfe, B. A., Kosovicheva, A. A., Yamanashi Leib, A., Wood, K. & Whitney, D.
Journal of Vision (2015) • pdf
Saccadic remapping of object-selective information.
Wolfe, B. A., Whitney, D.
Attention, Perception and Psychophysics (2015) • pdf
Wolfe, B. A., Whitney, D.
Attention, Perception and Psychophysics (2015) • pdf
Facilitating recognition of crowded faces with presaccadic attention.
Wolfe, B. A., Whitney, D.
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience (2014) • pdf
Wolfe, B. A., Whitney, D.
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience (2014) • pdf
Visual motion shifts saccade targets.
Kosovicheva, A. A., Wolfe, B. A., & Whitney, D.
Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics (2014) • pdf
Kosovicheva, A. A., Wolfe, B. A., & Whitney, D.
Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics (2014) • pdf
Coping With Spatial Attention in Real Space: A Low-Cost Portable Testing System for the Investigation of Visuo-Spatial Processing in the Human Brain.
Wolfe, B.A., Rushmore, R.J., Valero-Cabre, A..
Journal of Neuroscience Methods (2010) • pdf
Wolfe, B.A., Rushmore, R.J., Valero-Cabre, A..
Journal of Neuroscience Methods (2010) • pdf
Multiscale pattern analysis of orientation-selective activity in the primary visual cortex.
Swisher, J.D., Gatenby, J.C., Gore, J.C., Wolfe, B.A., Moon, C.H., Kim, S.G. Tong., F..
Journal of Neuroscience (2010) • pdf
Swisher, J.D., Gatenby, J.C., Gore, J.C., Wolfe, B.A., Moon, C.H., Kim, S.G. Tong., F..
Journal of Neuroscience (2010) • pdf
Note: The pdf reprints are protected by copyright laws, and are available only for personal, research use. Any other use is prohibited.
Press
"What the distracted-driving narrative gets wrong."
MIT CSAIL (June 24, 2019).
"Your eyes are the key to distracted driving, not your brain"
Ars Technica (July 1, 2019).
"Watch the Road! Are failures of distracted driving due to using peripheral vision or the difficulty of the distracting task?"
Psychonomics Society Featured Content (November 6, 2020).
Referencing Detection of brake lights while distracted: Separating peripheral vision from cognitive load
(Wolfe, Sawyer, Kosovicheva, & Reimer and Rosenholtz, 2019).
"Reacting to road hazards."
MIT News (August 7, 2019).
Referencing Holistic detection and evasion of road hazards
(Wolfe, Seppelt, Mehler, Reimer and Rosenholtz, 2019).