Connecticut Department Of Motor Vehicles

Wethersfield, Connecticut

A 10-second, full-motion video sets the scene: A car approaching an intersection has a green light signaling “go.” However, a pedestrian in the cross-walk has moved directly into the car’s path. As the video freezes the action to a stand-still, a question appears on the screen: “Who has right of way in this situation?”

In Department of Motor Vehicles branches throughout Connecticut, video scenarios like this one are played out every day on touch-sensitive computer screens. Across the state, traditional, hand-written driving tests have become a thing of the past. By combining video and touchscreen technology, managers at the Connecticut DMV have dramatically improved the quality of the state’s driver’s license exams while cutting in half the time required to complete the tests.

“We’re not only saving people valuable time, we’re also giving them a more valid, true-to-life test using the touchscreen stations,” says Lieutenant Willie Mack, a DMV manager who oversees administration of the exams. “The videos accompanying the questions help the applicants visualize given scenarios, so they fully understand what’s being asked—and they often learn something even when they get a question wrong. We’re giving people a clearer understanding of what the ‘Rules of the Road’ really mean in actual driving situations.”

At present, the Connecticut DMV has a total of 60 computer stations installed in various branches throughout the state. Most applicants, Mack says, now complete their exam in 15 minutes. In the past, applicants routinely took an hour to decipher and fully complete the DMV’s hand-written exams.

“The touchscreens speed the whole process by making it user-friendly and extremely interactive,” says Mack. “The applicants control the pace of the exam every step of the way. In general, lots of people are afraid of computers. But they pick up on the touchscreen concept and the video information very quickly, and their fear always goes away.”

Helping Foreign Language Speakers

Mack notes that combining touchscreen and video technology is particularly helpful for those who speak English as a second language.

“If your native language is Spanish or French, you may not be familiar with the concept of ‘hydro-planing,’” Mack says. “So we not only deliver the exam in twelve different languages—including Vietnamese, Lithuanian and Hebrew—but we also rely on the visuals to explain things. For instance, we show a car traveling down a rain-drenched highway, with a close-up of the tires moving through the water. That way, the applicant understands the context when the question appears in their language: ‘What’s the best way to keep your car from hydroplaning?’ The answer, by the way, is to drive slowly.”

Touch Controls

Touch technology puts the test taker in full control at all times, Mack says. “With the touch of a finger, applicants can replay a video scenario as many times as they want, to be sure they understand what is being asked,” he says.

Applicants can reconsider and change their answer repeatedly, he says, until they touch the “Final Selection/Enter” button on the screen. Rather than memorize numbers or type in responses, applicants simply touch the multiple-choice answer they think is correct. The system tells them instantly whether or not they were correct on that specific question.

“We have thousands of people every week taking their exams using the touchscreens,” Mack says. “With that much use, the durability of the touchscreens is critical, particularly during the summer months, when demand gets even more intense.”

The Connecticut DMV uses IntelliTouch® touchscreens from Elo TouchSystems. “So far, the touchscreens have required only minor, routine repairs,” says Mack. “And we’re very pleased with the clarity of the video images we get.”

The testing stations consist of an IBM-compatible PC equipped with CD-ROM capabilities. At each DMV branch, a back-room PC acts as a file server, storing and routing test questions and their accompanying video scenarios. In all, 200 test questions and videos are stored in the DMV’s multimedia database. For every exam, the system selects 16 questions at random.

“With the old, written exams, we had to watch people to prevent them from peeking over their neighbor’s shoulders,” Mack says. “Now, no test is the same. So the applicant has to concentrate on the video and the question at hand. First and foremost, they have to make sure they’ve studied the driver’s manual.”

Mack notes that applicants who get more than four out of 16 questions wrong must re-take the exam. When an individual fails their test, the touchscreen station automatically prints up a short report detailing where their weaknesses lie and what section of the driver’s manual they might study more closely.

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