bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Regulating Risks for Musculo-Skeletal Disorders in the us and the Nordic Countries - Similarities and Differences
Authors: Samdahl-Höiden Lisbet , Bjurvald Mats
Published: January 2012

Regulations are a rather new means for prevention of musculo-skeletal disorders, not least in the US, where the on-going discussion on a new OSHA ergonomics standard still is open. The tradition in the Nordic countries are somewhat longer; the first Swedish regulations entered into force 1984 and the current Norwegian regulation is from 1995. The major differences between the US and the Nordic ways in managing these matters are; the more evolved traditions of cooperation between representatives of employers and employees in the Nordic countries, the Nordic regulations covers all areas of working life, while the OSHA Draft has major exceptions, more emphasis on medical management in the OSHA Draft than in the Nordic regulations, the Nordic regulations are more proactive, as they address the risk factors more than the individual health effects. The major similarity is that the regulations rely on the same mass of scientific knowledge, although it might have been treated in slightly different ways.
Controls, Displays and Ergonomics Standards - Ensuring Health and Safety in Machinery Design
Authors: Gray Mike I.
Published: January 2012

The development of many of the standards for ergonomics within Europe has been driven by the need to assess whether or not machinery meets certain minimum requirements for health and safety. European legislation for machines, which is intended to prevent health and safety matters being used as a barrier to trade, includes requirements for designers to take ergonomic principles into account when considering how a machine will be used. The machinery safety standards for controls and displays (EN 894) are described and some examples from investigated incidents are given of problems that might have been averted by following their requirements.
Ergonomic Guidelines for Forest Machines
Authors: Gellerstedt Sten
Published: January 2012

New ergonomic guidelines to the design and assessment of forest machines have been completed in the Nordic countries. These guidelines will stimulate the development of safe forest machines that is easy to use and maintain. The guidelines are mostly functional regarding the operator workplace, controlling the machine and its tools, and maintenance work. The purpose of the guidelines is to achieve long-term efficiency of mechanised forestry operations. This is done by meeting the demands of the machine operators on health, safety and well-being, which hopefully will help the operators to earn a high and sustainable income. Many of the operators still suffer from pain in the neck and shoulder region. The classification of a machines usability is based on its ergonomic status in relation to work task and duration, tempo and the difficulty of the work.

Task forces in the Nordic countries participated in developing the guidelines. These included representatives from the forest sector and ergonomic research. A comprehensive review was carried out covering scientific knowledge and practical experiences in the area to serve as the basis of the guidelines. After tree years of deliberations and statements, an agreement on the guidelines was reached.
Exploring Work Domain Analysis Techniques
Authors: Farrell Philip S. E. , Ho Ghee
Published: January 2012

A work domain description is an initial requirement for a Human Factors analysis. Traditional Task Analyses use scenarios generated by Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) to describe the work domain. Cognitive Work Analysis describes the work domain structure using an Abstraction Decomposition Space. Personal Construct Psychology provides the basis for a new method of work domain analysis, which relies on the SME's mental constructs of the domain. Perceptual Control Theory incorporates the work domain functions and variables in its human-machine interaction framework. A study was conducted that developed four work domain descriptions of communication within the Griffon Helicopter using these techniques. The descriptions were compared and unique descriptors were found from each method. It was concluded that a synthesis of techniques promise to provide a comprehensive work domain description towards effective interface design.
Value of Human Performance Cognitive Predictions: A Free Flight Integration Application
Authors: Gore Brian F. , Corker Kevin M.
Published: January 2012

Computational human performance modeling tools have been under development for over 50 years to generate human performance predictions for studying complex human behaviors. Models are particularly focussed in operations that possess high costs associated with failures. One such complex area that is being explored by international regulatory and airline operations groups is the concept known as “free flight”. “Free flight” in the United States is a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) strategic goal for system capacity and for Air Traffic Services to improve accessibility, flexibility, and predictability in the national airspace in order to reduce flight times, crew resources, maintenance, and fuel costs. The experimental scenarios used to explore “free flight” are based on the full “free flight” concepts anticipated by the Requirements and Technical Concepts for Aviation, Inc. (RTCA) in the year 2025. These concepts explore the farthest out parameters of the aviation system. An evaluation of predicted behavioral costs associated with current day and “free flight” operations was performed using two “first principles” models, Air Man-machine Integration Design and Analysis System (Air MIDAS) and the Integrated Performance Modeling Environment (IPME). In analyses of a common scenario, both tools revealed increases along a seven-point, four-channel workload scale from current (MAirMIDAS = 0.77, MIPME = 1.24) to “free flight” operations (MAirMIDAS = 1.15, MIPME = 1.96). The models provided different performance profile predictions depending on the operator's role in the system change. Significant differences did exist in the predictions generated by the respective modeling software tools along the components that made up the overall workload predictions. Air MIDAS possessed significantly lower workload means on average (MVisual = 1.11, MAuditory = 1.08, MCognitive = 1.43, MPsychomotor = 0.22) than IPME (MVisual = 2.02, MAuditory = 0.49, MConitive = 2.46, MPsychomotor = 1.41). The only exception to this is the auditory modality. These findings support the notion of initially using models to screen for parameters for inclusion in costly simulation studies and demonstrate that human performance modeling tools differ in the representation of workload's impact on various modalities of the operator. A human-in-the-loop validation effort of these findings is required and anticipated.
Ergonomic Analysis of Elementary Actions as Means for the Ergonomic Design
Authors: Kirchner Johannes-Henrich
Published: January 2012

The general aim of ergonomic design is to achieve best compatibility between the human being and the object. An analysis of elementary actions of the human being may guide the designer to consider the possible relations between the user and the object. This means that the action is regarded and reflected with its elements; e.g. for a control these are: initiating the action, finding the control, moving to the control, grasping the control, actuating the control, checking the action, transitioning to the next action. This procedure is to be presented by an example: Operating of a control for setting the direction indicator lights in a streetcar.
Manpower Modeling and Human-Centered Design for 21st Century Naval Platforms
Authors: Nugent William A. , White Dennis
Published: January 2012

The United States Navy is placing strong emphasis on ensuring that future naval platforms are not only affordable and effective, but also operable and maintainable with fewer personnel. The realization of optimal manning and optimal ownership costs requires that the human be considered as a major component of the ship and its associated systems early in the acquisition process. Toward that end, systems engineers must have tools and processes to support human-centered engineering from the outset of the design, and must be able to exchange human performance and cost data with other members of the engineering team. Similarly, the US Navy must have tools to evaluate human versus system function allocation tradeoffs during the early phases of ship acquisition, when changes are easier and less costly to implement. Two efforts, the Ship Manpower Analysis and Requirements Tools (SMART) and the Systems Engineering Analysis Integration Tool (SEAIT), are being conducted to assist navy manpower evaluators, ship designers and government program managers in meeting the challenge of optimally manned ships. Both efforts use modeling and simulation of human performance and skill data to determine the optimum crew mix. Outputs from SMART and SEAIT are being designed for transition to the Human Centered Design Environment (HCDE), a collaborative engineering environment that integrates human centered and systems engineering processes and tools into a common data repository.
Building Performance Measurement into Today's Testing and Evaluation (T&E)
Authors: Bittner Alvah C.
Published: January 2012

Successful examples of building performance testing and evaluation (T&E) into a contemporary product/system development are presented. These examples serve in contrast with an increasing move toward exclusive use of subjective methods in technologically-driven human-factors/ergonomics (HF/E). This trend in “tech-driven” HF/E arguably parallels early-HF/E (<‘65) with a paucity of relevant literatures and guidance - but also suggests that performance considerations could be creatively incorporated into the development process as in earlier HF/E. Examples illustrate that (1) generally there is sufficient time to properly consider performance, and (2) proper performance consideration often requires relatively few resources, when practitioners make greater use of their imagination. Performance considerations and assessment can be creatively built into today's HF/E T&E.
Augmenting the Critical Incident Method to Evaluate Desktop Video Conferencing
Authors: Kies Jonathan K. , Williges Robert C.
Published: January 2012

Evaluating computer-mediated computer systems requires different usability engineering methods than those applied to traditional user interfaces. In this paper, the critical incident method was used in conjunction with communication performance measures, ethnographic analyses, and questionnaires to help understand the differences between face-to-face communication and desktop video conferencing applications as well as the effects of degraded video quality on communication. Four groups of students working on design projects were observed weekly for seven weeks. After each session, group members were interviewed and asked to discuss communication problems associated with the conferencing system. The combination of analyses resulted in the identification of several usability themes: conversation fluidity problems, lack of effective task support tools, the impact of work activity organization, the effects of time, group size problems, and problems associated with video quality. Combining the critical incident method with other methods yielded insights not attainable through traditional usability engineering metrics.
Web-Based Collection of Critical Incidents during Remote Usability Evaluation
Authors: Thompson Jennifer A. , Williges Robert C.
Published: January 2012

A web-based reporting tool was developed to support the collection of critical incidents during remote usability evaluations. The tool facilitated structured critical incident data entry by the user and the ability to transfer this data directly to the experimenter in the form of an email. The reporting tool was evaluated by assessing a voice email system comprised of a voice interface for emailing and a web interface for system configuration. The evaluation compared the frequency and severity of critical incidents obtained from remote participants with users located in a controlled laboratory setting. Changes in critical incident reporting resulting from repeated exposure to the system were evaluated. The results of the evaluation demonstrated that the web-based reporting tool was an effective critical incident data collection technique for remote usability evaluation.
Context Effects in the Measurement of Subjective Workload: Prolonged Exposure to the Same or Different Contexts
Authors: Biers David W. , Anthony Christopher
Published: January 2012

The present study investigated the effect of context on the subjective measurement of workload using the continuous memory task. Twelve levels of task difficulty were manipulated either between-subjects or within-subjects. Participants performed the continuous memory task for 48 trials under either a single difficulty level (between-subjects context) or under all 12 difficulty levels (within-subjects context). Workload was measured using ModSWAT— a technique that uses the sum of the SWAT dimensions to form the workload composite rather than the standard conjoint measurement procedure. Results indicated no difference in performance as a function of context but that context affected ratings of subjective workload. Under the single context condition, participants rated the workload of the easiest conditions higher than if the same conditions occurred within context of other more difficult conditions. Results are discussed in terms of their implication for practical assessment of subjective workload.
On Positivistic Research Criteria for Interactive Phenomena
Authors: Kanis H.
Published: January 2012

Reliability (dispersion in measurement repetition) and validity (deviation from an adopted reference) are confusing concepts, regularly inadequately specified in Ergonomics/Human Factors (E/HF) research papers. The application of each is at odds with the interactiveness of measured/observed human phenomena. The more relevant research is for supporting usage oriented design, the less significant reliability and validity are as , positivistic research criteria.
How Many Participants: A Simple Means for Concurrent Monitoring
Authors: Karris H. , Arisz H.J.
Published: January 2012

User trialling, particularly in a design context with tight time and budget constraints, begs the question what makes up a sufficient number of participants for observing proportionally enough of the phenomena at issue; e.g. usability problems. Statistical approaches such as estimating the number of species do not seem to be applicable since the required, mathematically ‘neat’ sampling conditions do not match the gathering of observations with consecutively involved participants in a user trial. Therefore, we resorted to the well-known binomial model, precipitating (without sampling restrictions) an anticipated increase in overlap, i.e., a rising proportion of shared observations between participants in an ongoing trial, or, in other words, diminishing returns in terms of unique observations. In Ergonomics/Human Factors (E/HF) literature, the application of the binomial model has given rise to retrospective assessments involving the number of participants that would have been enough, by hindsight, to discover e.g. 80% of all usability problems, which, by reference to case studies, eventually gave rise to the rule of thumb that about five participants are sufficient. The present paper summarises and extends two earlier papers in providing a simple statistic in order to monitor concurrently the proportion of information gained so far in a trial. Careful scrutiny is given to the origin of estimates being biased downward, that is: the underestimation of the asymptotic number of usability problems to be discovered given the observations after a number of participants. On the basis of both hypothetical examples and empirical studies it is shown that the ‘five-is-enough’ rule of thumb may hold, but may equally well be much too optimistic. With the proposed statistic for concurrent monitoring, it can arguably be decided on whether or not to continue a trial.
Measuring the Impact of Advanced Technologies and Reorganization on Human Performance in a Combat Information Center
Authors: Freeman Jared T. , Campbell Gwendolyn E. , Hildebrand Greg
Published: January 2012

Systematically evaluating the impact of novel technology and organizational structure on team performance is a complex, multidimensional task. We define several of these dimensions that are of particular interest in the development of new command and control teams and technologies for the U.S. Navy. In addition, we describe an approach to stimulating and measuring human behavior on these dimensions, and an experiment in which this approach is applied. Preliminary data are presented.
Designing Displays for Command and Control Supervision: Contextualizing Alerts and “Trust-But-Verity” Automation
Authors: Johnxys Mark , Oonk Heather M. , Osga Glenn A.
Published: January 2012

Supervision of command and control tasks requires monitoring and maintaining situation awareness of multiple on-going tasks performed by other agents and systems. Automation may aid the user, but realistic automation is often not totally reliable. Sophisticated users may learn to use even unreliable automation to their advantage if 1) they employ a strategy such as “trust-but-verify”, and 2) the user interface supports this strategy by integrating information about the situation with the display of what the automation is doing. The trust-but-verify strategy can be broken into two parts: 1.1) conditional trust and 1.2) qualitative verification. Conditional trust involves knowing when the situation is conducive to trusting the automation. Qualitative verification involves using the automation as a guide or input into manual decision making.
Measures of Stress/Strain on Air Traffic Controllers in Simulated Air Traffic Control
Authors: David Hugh
Published: January 2012

This poster summarises, in symbolic form, thirty years of experience at the EUROCONTROL Experimental Centre (EEC) in the assessment of the workload placed on controllers, Stress (= Ss) and their reactions to stress, Strain (= St). The accompanying pamphlets go into more detail about the specific techniques. See also the EUROCONTROL Experimental Centre Website “ www.eurocontrol.fr ”.
Asian Ergonomics in the New Millennium
Authors: Akita Munehira , Lee Kwan Suk
Published: January 2012

Asia has more than a half of the world population. However, ergonomics has not been widely applied with exceptions of Japan and Korea. Recently, the excitement of ergonomics is being spread to other countries such as Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Indonesia. Although there have been two regional conferences, PPCOE and SEA Conference. Asian ergonomists have not met together to discuss their activities in a world conference. Therefore, the objectives of this symposium is to provide the opportunities for them to discuss the current status of ergonomics and possibly joints efforts to promote ergonomics in Asia. At the same time, this symposium intends to introduce the ergonomics activities in Asia to Western and non-Asian ergonomists and to look for new guidance to enhance its activities from the world renowned experts who have experienced in working in Asia with Asian ergonomists. This syposium consists of two sessions: one panel session and one technical session.
Effects of Dominant Input Device and its Position on Perceived Upper Extremity Discomforts among Thai Vdt Users
Authors: Rurkhamet Busagarin , Nanthavanij Suebsak
Published: January 2012

This paper presents the results of a field survey on perceived upper extremity discomforts among Thai VDT users. Questionnaires were given to 153 VDT users from academic institutions, government agencies, and business organizations to collect information about VDT tasks, VDT workstations, computer accessories layouts, and physical discomforts. Users were divided into three groups according to the dominant input device (keyboard or mouse). Three computer accessories layouts based on the positions of the keyboard, mouse, and monitor were considered in this study. It is found that VDT users who used the mouse as their dominant input device reported high upper extremity discomforts when the mouse is positioned far from the body. From the three accessories layouts considered, the frequent use of the keyboard does not show any apparent impact on the upper extremity discomforts among Thai VDT users.
Use of Body Shape Information in Clothing Size Selection
Authors: Meunier Pierre
Published: January 2012

To investigate the role of body shape information on clothing size selection, a sample of 143 males were measured and sized using a computerized digital-image based measurement system. Clothing sizes were initially determined by the system using traditional criteria for the long sleeve shirt, jacket and trousers of a military dress uniform. The best-fitting size was determined by trial and error based on subjective feedback and expert judgement, provided by clothing and sizing technicians. Discriminant function analysis was used to determine sizing rules for each garment, based on different sets of anthropometric input variables. Comparisons were made between the prediction performances of discriminant functions derived from traditional variables and those of functions derived from 3D landmark coordinates. The results indicate that the use of three-dimensional landmark coordinates, as input to a discriminant function analysis, is superior to the use of circumference measurements in predicting clothing sizes. The use of these landmarks is thought to improve the classification of cases by allowing a better characterization of body shape.
Effect of Subject Pose for 3D Database Management
Authors: Paquet Eric , Rioux Marc
Published: January 2012

Cleopatra is a 3D database management software to classify the digitized 3D shape of the human bodies contained in the CAESAR database. The classification process is based on the geometric characteristics of the digitized data, along with a filtering process based on text information contained in both, the traditional anthropometric and the extracted measurements files. The information contained in the demographic file is also available for filtering.

This paper discusses the experimental results of tests related to the subject's pose while the scan is made. This is a repeatability test where the subjects (a male and a female) are repeatedly scanned ten times. Each scan is made at different times and the subject attempts to assume the same pose each time.
Effect of Forward/Backward Standing Posture on Foot Shape
Authors: Daanen H.A.M. , Tan T.K. , Punte P.A.J.
Published: January 2012

Foot length and breadth are generally used to determine the correct shoe size. An important question is whether foot length and foot breadth are dependent upon body posture. Therefore, the effect of leaning forward/backward on foot length and breadth is investigated in this study.

Seven subjects participated in the experiment in three standing postures; neutral (N), leaning forward (F) en leaning backward (B). The foot pressure was determined and the feet were scanned using a 3D-whole body scanner. Foot length and foot breadth were determined from the scans of the right foot. The centre of gravity (COG) was calculated from the pressure distribution and showed that the COG moved 11 cm forward in posture F and 8 cm backward in posture B. No difference existed between foot length and breadth between the three postures. Thus, it does seem important to standardize the standing posture to determine foot length and breadth reliably. The 3D scans showed some differences in foot shape, however. In position F the forefoot was rotated inwards as compared to B.
3-D Anthropometric Information for Designing the Wearable
Authors: Lee Young-Suk
Published: January 2012

Anthropometry deals with the measurement of the dimensions and certain other physical characteristics of the body such as volumes, centers of gravity, internal properties, and masses of body segments. In addition to these measurement, 3-dimensional anthropometric informations such as body shape, body contour, body slice shape and body silhouette are very essential for designing and fitting the wearables.

Our main gold in this paper is to demonstrate the use of 3-D information in connection with human sensibility thanks to several examples of body shape analysis methods, and their results. As a supplementary set of information, our desire was also to provide the reader with an international size chart.
Introducing User Participative Design Methods to Industrial Designers
Authors: Bonner John V H , Porter J. Mark
Published: January 2012

Communication between designers and human factors specialists needs to be improved. Over the past few years we have been conducting a range of studies to explore and identify how to improve this communication deficit. A participatory design tool-set was designed to encourage designers and potential end-users of future interactive products to communicate their design intentions and user needs through the use of drawing and placing cards on a table with the use of some limited role-playing. This paper reports on two case studies conducted at two organisations involved in the development of consumer products. Suggestions are provided on how these type of design tools can be improved to increase acceptance by user interface designers.
Global Approach to Good Design, A Team Effort
Authors: Vandraas Kirsti F.
Published: January 2012

I work for a Norwegian company, which develops, manufactures and sell seating solutions for the active working human being. The company is over 50 years old, we have over 40% market share on our home market and we are one of the 10 biggest office chair manufacturers in Europe. We have been represented on the American Market for many years. I work in the product development department, where I participate in or head projects. I work closely with a number of different designers, and this is part of my professional life.
Human Modeling & Simulation: A Primer for Practitioners
Authors: Ziolek Scott A. , Kruithof Pieter C.
Published: January 2012

More and more, digital human modeling and simulation is being used in conjunction with CAD systems to address ergonomic issues early within the development and manufacturing process. However, purchasing a human modeling software package does not guarantee a user-centered design anymore than purchasing a word processor makes someone an author. This paper addresses some of the practical issues that confront human modeling and simulation users, including the collection of geometry, posturing the manikin, and selection of an analysis. For the purposes of discussion, human simulation will be divided into three broad areas: the environment, manikin selection, and analysis.
Validation of the Anthropometric Data Acquisition Module of Safework
Authors: Coutu Eric , Margaritis Alexis , Hachez Geneviève
Published: January 2012

Existing Virtual Reality systems do not often integrate a realistic representation of the user. This lack of an accurate human model within such systems reduces the feeling of immersion for the subject. Therefore, one of the premises when using a virtual environment should be to generate a mannequin with anthropometric characteristics that accurately correspond to the user. Because the anthropometric data usually require a long acquisition process, a new sophisticated measuring technique has been created. This method is capable of grabbing automatically some dimensions of a subject and re-creating the corresponding virtual human. This method uses a motion capture system and requires placing sensors on specific anatomic landmarks in order to measure directly anthropometric variables. In this paper, we present the different steps and results of the validation of this new feature of SAFEWORK®.
Inclusive Design: An Holistic Approach
Authors: Jordan Patrick W.
Published: January 2012

Inclusive design approaches aim to create products that are suitable for the non-disabled and disabled alike. Traditionally, such approaches have concentrated on creating products which, whilst fitting with the special cognitive and/or physical needs of the disabled, have also brought benefits to the non-disabled. Examples of such products include the ballpoint pen and the TV remote control. Whilst those two are excellent examples of inclusive design, it will be argued in this paper that inclusive approaches which concentrate on only the cognitive and physical aspects of disability are limited. A new paradigm for inclusive design is proposed. This paradigm is based on looking at people holistically — taking into account people's lifestyles and values. A framework for considering such issues — the four pleasures — is described. It is argued that many ‘inclusive’ designs fail through failing to reflect the diverse values and lifestyles of the disabled. Examples are given, demonstrating how holistic approaches to inclusive design can right such failures.
A Framework for Evaluating Safety in Design
Authors: Norris Beverley
Published: January 2012

Accidents to consumers cause a huge number of injuries each year, yet calls for usability improvements often do not refer explicitly to safety. A generic evaluation framework is proposed to encourage designers to consider ergonomics evaluation in the product development process, which concentrates on hazard identification.
The Development of an Implicit Situation Awareness Toolkit
Authors: Croft Darryl , Banbury Simon , Thompson David
Published: January 2012

Much of the knowledge that an experienced system operator uses is procedural, rather than declarative, and as a result this knowledge may not be available to conscious inspection. It is proposed that to access this tacit or ‘implicit’ knowledge, Human Factors practitioners need to employ implicit knowledge probes. This paper provides a rationale for testing Situation Awareness (SA) implicitly and an overview of the Implicit SA Toolkit being developed at QinetiQ Farnborough, UK. This CD ROM-based toolkit provides Human Factors practitioners with step-by-step guidance on how to measure Implicit SA - the aim being to supplement and enhance (rather than replace) existing explicit SA measurement techniques. The toolkit permits a user to design a bespoke test for measuring implicit SA from scratch. It guides the user through the design and construction stages of an implicit test in a self-explanatory manner and provides details on methodologies, number of participants required, experimental design, and so on. It also provides examples of previous applications for each test and imparts substantial background information pertaining to implicit knowledge, memory, and learning.
Ergonomics of UAV/UCAV Mission Success: Considerations for Data Link, Control, and Display Issues
Authors: Mouloua Mustapha , Gilson Richard , Daskarolis-Kring Eleni , Kring Jason , Hancock Peter
Published: January 2012

The United States Armed Forces are turning to Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), and their combat-modified counterparts (UCAVs), to support human pilots and improve electronic surveillance and weapons deployment capabilities, particularly for risky suppression of enemy air-defense (SEAD) operations. Successful implementation and integration of UAVs/UCAVs into today's military requires focused attention toward human factors issues to ensure mission success and efficiency. In addition to considerations for satellite links, positive target verification, and assurance of collateral safety prior to weapon(s) launch, a primary concern is how operators interact with the UAV/UCAV system. This paper describes a portion of these concerns by presenting human factors considerations for UAV/UCAV-operator data links, vehicle control, and operator display issues. Relevant empirical findings are reviewed and implications for training and systems design are outlined.
Workload, Situation Awareness, and Teaming Issues for UAV/UCAV Operations
Authors: Mouloua Mustapha , Gilson Richard , Kring Jason , Hancock Peter
Published: January 2012

A new partnership is forming between humans and uninhabited aircraft. To augment the abilities of military forces on the ground and in the air, the US Armed Forces have developed several Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to work in conjunction with human pilots and enhance surveillance and combat capabilities. Even with no onboard pilot, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and combat-tailored versions (UCAVs) rely on proficient human operators on the ground for proper guidance and munitions deployment. For this reason, system designers must consider several key human factors issues in the development of functional UAV/UCAV systems. This work addresses three of these issues: workload, situation awareness, and teaming concerns. Recommendations to maximize operator efficacy, based on findings from human factors and ergonomics research, are presented as well as implications for training.
An Automated Conflict Alert System and Its Impact on the Air Traffic Controller - an Explorative Field Study
Authors: Weikert Clemens , Holck-Clausen Henrik , Johansson Curt R.
Published: January 2012

This study aims at investigating the impact of a recently implemented short term conflict alert system in Swedish air traffic control. The main issue is whether controllers have changed their way of working after the introduction of the new system and to look for potential risk factors. Observations, questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were used to collect information from working controllers. Results show no change in work procedures except for the fact that controllers have increased the amount of information given to pilots. A tendency was found for experienced controllers to look more often at alerts in other sectors than less experienced controllers did, which might be a potential risk factor.
Intelligent Tutors for Aviation Automation Mitigating the Problem!?1
Authors: Mitchell Christine M. , Chappell Alan R. , Gray W. Michael , Thurman David A. , Quinn Alexander B.
Published: January 2012

This paper describes a research program that addresses a variety of issues and problems in training pilots to fly modern, highly sophisticated aircraft First, the paper describes two intelligent tutors developed to teach two important aspects of aviation: a tutor that teaches management of the vertical dimension of the flight management system for pilots in transition training; and a tutor that teaches expert novices, that is, certified pilots, procedures not included in their transition training. Second, both tutors extend GT-ITACS (Georgia Tech-Intelligent Tutoring Architecture for Complex Systems), a computational development environment for intelligent tutors. In general, implementing instructional material in computational form is the most difficult step in developing effective computer-based instruction; this is particularly true for intelligent tutors Computational implementation is so difficult that implementing computer-based training is often cost and time prohibitive—explaining in part the small number of tutors and the abundance of computer-based training that is little more than Power Point presentations GT-ITACS is an computational architecture that is completely file driven That is, configuring a GT-ITACS tutor for a new application requires only reformatting input files. A tutor based on GT-ITACS does not require any additional software development or ‘hard-coding.’ Both tutors described in this paper instantiate GT-ITACS, demonstrating the versatility and power of the development environment. Finally, the paper concludes by describing a method to implement distributed, computer-based training, that is, training any time, any where A description of an easily implemented method, evaluated with both tutors described in this paper, provides users access to training at the place and time of their choice.
Visual Displays and Cognitive Tunneling: Frames of Reference Effects on Spatial Judgments and Change Detection
Authors: Thomas Lisa C , Wickens Christopher D
Published: January 2012

This proposal describes a two-part study which illustrate “cognitive tunneling” as it affects information gathering and change detection in computer-generated terrain displays. We define cognitive tunneling as the effect where observers tend to focus attention on information from specific areas of a display to the exclusion of information presented outside of these highly attended areas. Previous research suggests that cognitive tunneling is induced by more immersive or egocentric visual displays and results in poorer information extraction and situation awareness as compared to an exocentric display of the same information. The experiment discussed here determined that failure of the observers to integrate information across the two views of the immersed display was the primary cause of the cognitive tunneling effect. In addition, participants' abilities to detect changes to objects in the environment were affected by the type of change as well as the salience of its presentation within the view.
Practices of High Reliability Teams: Observations in Trauma Resuscitation
Authors: Xiao Yan , Moss Jacqueline
Published: January 2012

This paper reports findings on some of the practices adopted by teams based on interviews and observations of teams working in trauma resuscitation. This study was conducted at a level I trauma center over a period of six months. Although analysis of interview transcripts is on-going, these practices can be tentatively organized into several general themes: learning and trusting other roles, sharing responsibilities, ensuring team awareness, and being adaptive. In particular, even though membership of teams in trauma resuscitation is fluid and dynamic, by sharing the overall responsibilities for the well-being of the patient, the teams are able to resist many failure factors.
Using Cognitive Task Analysis (CTA) to Seed Design Concepts for Intelligence Analysts Under Data Overload
Authors: Patterson Emily S. , Woods David D. , Tinapple David , Roth Emilie M.
Published: January 2012

This paper describes how a Cognitive Task Analysis (CTA) was used to jumpstart the exploration of useful design aids to combat data overload in intelligence analysis. During a simulated analysis task, we observed how professional intelligence analysts were vulnerable to making inaccurate statements when they were under time pressure and working in a topic area outside their area of expertise. From these observations, we generated design recommendations and criteria for evaluating the usefulness of any effort aimed at reducing data overload. Then, we used CTA insights to trigger the development of modular design concepts, or “design seeds,” that leverage advances in machine processing to address vulnerabilities. Nine design seeds were integrated into a “Visual Narratives” workspace visualization concept. Feedback about the usefulness of the design seeds was obtained during an elicitation session following an animated fly-through, or “Ani-mock,” demonstration.
Analysis with a Purpose: Narrowing the Gap with a Pragmatic Approach
Authors: Gualtieri James W. , Elm William C. , Potter Scott S. , Roth Emilie
Published: January 2012

There has been a growing interest in using Cognitive Systems Engineering (CSE) techniques to understand work domains and the cognitive demands they imposes on practitioners in order to provide a foundation for the design of decision-aids. While CSE techniques, like Cognitive Work Analysis (CWA), have been proven successful in illuminating the sources of cognitive complexity and explicating the basis of expertise, there is often still a gap between the results of the CWA and the resulting design and development of the decision support system. One way to narrow the gap is to develop an integrated set of artifacts that provide explicit links between (1) the functional goals the domain, to (2) the cognitive demands that require support, through (3) the mapping of decisions to the display space. In this paper a brief discussion of a recent example where this approach was taken is presented.
The Effects of Task Structure on Cognitive Organizing Principles: Implications for Complex Display Design Practices
Authors: Mahan Robert P. , Haarbauer Eric , Tang Tim , Crooks C. L. , Williams Cristina C.
Published: January 2012

Cognitive engineering practices provide display design solutions that enhance the operator's ability to manage and control complex systems. However, they often do so without adequate modeling of the cognitive system requirements for this process. This research report is a first in a series of reports illustrating, in part, that the depth and surface distinctions of a task influence the correspondence between cognitive information organizing principles and properties of the task. The congruence principle is offered as a potential explanatory mechanism for the findings that different task representations induce different cognitive organizing principles, and that performance is dependent, in part, upon the mapping between the task, display, and cognitive organizing principle of the operator. Using different display types as means of comparison, results of both Experiment 1 and 2 supported the hypothesized congruence principle.
A Comparison of Performance Criteria for Initiating Adaptive Task Reallocation
Authors: Montgomery DeMaris A. , Harney Shannon M. , Besterfeldt Julia K.
Published: January 2012

This study examined performance assessment methods used to initiate mode transfers between manual control and automation for adaptive task reallocation. Participants monitored two secondary displays for critical events while actively controlling a process in a fictional system. One of the secondary tasks could be automated whenever participant performance surpassed absolute threshold values or after evidence of a continued change in performance beyond the threshold criteria. Transfers were either machine-initiated or human-initiated after the computer signaled the participant to change modes. First, the results support previous findings (Montgomery, 2001). In addition, it appears that by including the human operator in machine-initiated transfers the proportion of mode errors (i.e., accidental responses while a task is automated) may be reduced relative to transfers that are completely machine-initiated with the operator being simply informed of the current mode. Secondly, the results indicated that the assessment method that required a change in performance produced performance advantages, including evidence of a decrease in the proportion of mode errors, relative to the absolute threshold criteria without a heavy reliance on automation.
Critiquing as a Cognitive Task Analysis (CTA) Methodology
Authors: Miller Janet E. , Patterson Emily S. , Woods David D.
Published: January 2012

Cognitive task analysis (CTA) methodologies are used to discover expertise that domain practitioners utilize in order to perform tasks, but are unable to reliably articulate when asked directly. We describe a methodology that walks through a novice's process on a task in order to serve as a probe for elicitation of expert commentary. Six experienced intelligence analysts with three levels of prior knowledge critiqued the process a junior analyst employed to determine the causes and consequences of the Ariane 501 rocket launch failure. Preliminary data analyses reveal interesting insights about the nature of expertise in intelligence analysis. This appears to be a promising alternative methodology for CTA when there are access restrictions, low frequency or unpredictability of target observation events, or difficulty in recruiting experts who wish to be evaluated on their task performance.
In-Vehicle Cell Phones: Fatal Distraction—Yes or No?
Authors: Curry David G.
Published: January 2012

Debate in the popular press regarding the issue of cell phone use on American roadways is extremely prevalent, highly vituperative, and almost completely devoid of actual hard data on the problem itself. Editorials are rife with emotionally-charged personal accounts of tragedies or near-tragedies, but suspiciously empty of any facts regarding the issues involved or experimental evidence supporting the positions they adopt. The resulting general consensus in the public mind is that these products are a dangerous national problem and that something must be done about them. The rash of legislation proposing various types of quick fix is proof that lawmakers are being crowded into a position that something must be done about this “problem”, though the real data surrounding this issue is mixed at best.

This paper attempts to place the problem in its proper perspective using publicly available facts and figures in an attempt to support an alternative solution.
Communication Visualization – An Aid to Military Command and Control Evaluation
Authors: Albinsson Pär-Anders , Fransson Johan
Published: January 2012

Communication in military command and control, C2, is essential to propagate information among military units. Evaluations of C2 can focus on different parts, e.g. computer support systems or tactical methods. Independent of focus, information of communication must be considered, thus design of visualization methods for handling communication data is necessary. Our approach is based on link analysis and considers general aspects of communication, specific aspects of military communication and visualization techniques. The report extends previous designs of communication timelines and communication graphs, which make it possible to analyze communication both in detail, and over large periods of time. Implemented visualization modules add aspects of link analysis to an existing framework and are tested with data from field exercises.
Cognitive Engineering and Computer-Based Assistive Technologies
Authors: Gillan Douglas J. , Bias Randolph
Published: January 2012

Assistive technology for persons with visual impairments is important now and will be increasingly important as the U.S. population ages. Screen readers, technology for translating optical characters into phonemes, Aid computer users with visual impairments. However, as more computer interfaces make use of graphical stimuli and spatial cues to represent and organize information, current screen readers may not accurately represent information from Web sites and other computer-based displays. The present panel discusses multidisciplinary research being done on a National Science Foundation grant concerned with representing tables, frames, and forms on computers so that they will be usable by persons with visual disabilities.
Multi-Touch: A New Tactile 2-D Gesture Interface for Human-Computer Interaction
Authors: Westerman Wayne , Elias John G. , Hedge Alan
Published: January 2012

The naturalness and variety of a touch-based hand gesture interface offers new opportunities for human-computer interaction. Using a new type of capacitive sensor array, a Multi-Touch Surface (MTS) can be created that is not limited in size, that can be presented in many configurations, that is robust under a variety of environmental operating conditions, and that is very thin. Typing and gesture recognition built into the Multi-Touch Surface allow users to type and perform bilateral gestures on the same surface area and in a smaller footprint than is required by current keyboard and mouse technologies. The present approach interprets asynchronous touches on the surface as conventional single-finger typing, while motions initiated by chords are interpreted as pointing, clicking, gesture commands, or hand resting. This approach requires learning only a few new chords for graphical manipulation, rather than a vocabulary of new chords for typing the whole alphabet. Graphical manipulation seems a better use of chords in today's computing environment.