Estudo experimental do comportamento ocular em trabalhadores administrativos como um indicador de conforto visual em situação de risco de encadeamento

The daylight impact on the visual environment is fundamental on visual display terminal work (VDT). Visual performance and visual comfort should be considered for equal. The study (n=16) was performed at the experimental lighting laboratory. Office work with VDT was evaluated using STROOP task in two orientations: (with/without solar presence in the visual field). Our hypothesis states the existence of a relationship between ocular behavior and visual comfort of workers. An eye-tracker was employed in order to record the ocular gestural parameters: blinks, direction of gaze, eye aperture (Degree of eye?s openness) and pupil size, which were correlated with the vertical illuminance at the eye. Visual comfort was assessed with Glare Sensation Vote. Results indicate a strong negative linear correlation between eye illuminance and the degree of eye?s openness in the direct sunlight scenario (p=-0.636; s=0.008) and in diffuse light scenario (p=-0.661; s=0.005), that could be the main predictor of visual discomfort. This experiment allowed us to explore eye behavior patterns that could be visual comfort indices under glare risk situations.O impacto a luz do dia no ambiente visual é fundamental para o trabalho no Ecrã de Visualização de Dados (EDV). Desempenho visual e conforto visual devem ser considerados em igual. O estudo (n = 16) foi realizado no laboratório experimental de iluminação. O trabalho de escritório com EDV foi avaliado utilizando a tarefa de Stroop em duas orientações: (com / sem presença solar no campo visual). A nossa hipótese afirma a existência de uma relação entre o comportamento ocular e conforto visual dos trabalhadores. Um “eye-tracker” foi desenvolvido para gravar os parâmetros gestuais oculares: pestanejar, direção do olhar, abertura dos olhos (Grau de abertura do olho) e tamanho da pupila, que foram correlacionados com a iluminância vertical no olho. Conforto visual foi avaliado com a escala de sensação de encadeamento. Os resultados indicam uma correlação linear negativa forte entre a luminosidade dos olhos e do grau de abertura de olho no cenário de luz solar direta (p = -0,636; s = 0,008) e no cenário de luz difusa (p = -0,661; s = 0,005), que poderia ser o principal preditor de desconforto visual. Esta experiência permitiu-nos explorar padrões de comportamento do olho que poderiam ser os índices de conforto visual em situação de risco de encadeamento.Fil: Yamin Garretón, Julieta Alejandra. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Ciencias Humanas, Sociales y Ambientales; ArgentinaFil: Rodriguez, Roberto Germán. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Ciencias Humanas, Sociales y Ambientales; ArgentinaFil: Pattini, Andrea Elvira. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Ciencias Humanas, Sociales y Ambientales; Argentin

Online Measuring of Available Resources

This paper present a proposal for measuring available mental resources during the accomplishment of a task. Our proposal consists in measuring emotions provoked by perceived self-efficacy in the execution of the task. Self-efficacy is one of the most important factors that affect the resources that a person puts at the disposal of the execution of the task. When a person perceives that he/she is not being effective he/she will activate more resources to improve his performance. This self-efficacy will be reflected in the emotions that the person experiences. A good efficacy will provoke positive emotions and a bad efficacy negative emotions. The results of our study show that poor execution leads to negative emotions and psychophysiological activation as measured by pupil dilation. According to these results we propose that a possible method for measuring available resources during the execution of the task could be online measuring of emotions

Estimating pilots’ cognitive load from ocular parameters through simulation and in-flight studies

Eye tracking is the process of measuring either the point of gaze (where one is looking) or the motion of an eye relative to the head. This paper investigated use of eye gaze trackers in military aviation environment to automatically estimate pilot’s cognitive load from ocular parameters. We used a fixed base variable stability flight simulator with longitudinal tracking task and collected data from 14 military pilots. In a second study, we undertook three test flights with a BAES Hawk Trainer aircraft doing air to ground attack training missions and constant G level turn maneuvers up to +5G. Our study found that ocular parameters like rate of fixation is significantly different in different flying conditions and significantly correlate with altitude gradient during air to ground dive training task, normal load factor (G) of the aircraft during constant G level turn maneuvers and pilot’s control inceptor and tracking error in simulation tasks. Results from our studies can be used for real time estimation of pilots’ cognitive load, providing suitable warnings and alerts to the pilot in cockpit and training of military pilots on cognitive load management during operational missions

Engineering data compendium. Human perception and performance. User's guide

The concept underlying the Engineering Data Compendium was the product of a research and development program (Integrated Perceptual Information for Designers project) aimed at facilitating the application of basic research findings in human performance to the design and military crew systems. The principal objective was to develop a workable strategy for: (1) identifying and distilling information of potential value to system design from the existing research literature, and (2) presenting this technical information in a way that would aid its accessibility, interpretability, and applicability by systems designers. The present four volumes of the Engineering Data Compendium represent the first implementation of this strategy. This is the first volume, the User's Guide, containing a description of the program and instructions for its use

Exploring the effect of simulated Motion Conditions on Task Performance

This thesis explored the effect that four different areas of motion conditioning presented in a motion simulator had on defence-force based task performance. It is produced in conjunction with the Defence Science and Technology Organisation, Land Operations Division, to expand their understanding of how these conditions may affect their personnel. The four conditions are explored are Motion Sickness, Motion Fatigue, Motion Perception and Mental Workload under motion conditions. All studies involved first year psychology students enrolled at the University of Sydney in accordance with the University’s ethical guidelines (2013/388). In the study of Motion Sickness, nausea was shown to have very little detrimental effect on task performance. In long term driving exposure there was a slight negative effect on the reaction time that was linked to motion sickness symptoms. Two styles of driving were researched for Motion Fatigue: boredom and constant motion. The boredom drive was seen to have a slightly negative effect on performance compared to the motion drive. In analysing biomarkers of fatigue relevant to a defence context, the best indicators were respiratory rate and the Root Mean Square of Successive Differences between normal heart beats. In Motion Perception, 6-axes of motion at 3 intensities were tested using Defence force tasks to determine whether any one axis, or a certain intensity, negatively affected performance more than others. Higher errors occurred in the Roll direction. The Pitch direction was the least comfortable for participants. In the final chapter of Mental Workload under motion, increased workload did not have a great impact on performance, although further studies are needed. In an analysis of subjective scales of workload in simple tasks, participants were able to accurately determine their task performance. From a bio-measure perspective, pupil diameter and respiratory rate were found to be the most indicative of changing levels of workload

Exploring the effect of simulated Motion Conditions on Task Performance

This thesis explored the effect that four different areas of motion conditioning presented in a motion simulator had on defence-force based task performance. It is produced in conjunction with the Defence Science and Technology Organisation, Land Operations Division, to expand their understanding of how these conditions may affect their personnel. The four conditions are explored are Motion Sickness, Motion Fatigue, Motion Perception and Mental Workload under motion conditions. All studies involved first year psychology students enrolled at the University of Sydney in accordance with the University’s ethical guidelines (2013/388). In the study of Motion Sickness, nausea was shown to have very little detrimental effect on task performance. In long term driving exposure there was a slight negative effect on the reaction time that was linked to motion sickness symptoms. Two styles of driving were researched for Motion Fatigue: boredom and constant motion. The boredom drive was seen to have a slightly negative effect on performance compared to the motion drive. In analysing biomarkers of fatigue relevant to a defence context, the best indicators were respiratory rate and the Root Mean Square of Successive Differences between normal heart beats. In Motion Perception, 6-axes of motion at 3 intensities were tested using Defence force tasks to determine whether any one axis, or a certain intensity, negatively affected performance more than others. Higher errors occurred in the Roll direction. The Pitch direction was the least comfortable for participants. In the final chapter of Mental Workload under motion, increased workload did not have a great impact on performance, although further studies are needed. In an analysis of subjective scales of workload in simple tasks, participants were able to accurately determine their task performance. From a bio-measure perspective, pupil diameter and respiratory rate were found to be the most indicative of changing levels of workload

Comparing the Difficulty of Tasks Using Eye Tracking Combined with Subjective and Behavioural Criteria

In this article, we attempted to examine the issue of the existence of differences in eye move-ment of school-age students as they solve tasks of different difficulty levels in the sciences and natural sciences (computer science, mathematics, physics, biology). Categories of the task’s difficulty level were established on the basis of two types of criteria: subjective (an evaluation made by the subjects) and behavioural (connected to the correctness of their solution). The relationships of these criteria with the visual activity parameters, which were considered to be indicators of mental effort, were identified. An analysis of the data obtained enabled the observation of discrepancies in categorizing difficulties of the tasks on the basis of subjective and behavioural criteria. A significant and strong correlation was noticed between task difficulty level, determined by the percentage of correct answers, and the fixation parameters, although such a relationship with the blink parameters was not found. There was no correlation of the activity of the eye movement parameters, considered to be mental effort indicators, with a student’s opinion about the task’s difficulty level. On the basis of the investigations made, it can be stated that the fixation duration average can be taken as an index of the difficulty level of the task being solved

The impact of luminance on tonic and phasic pupillary responses to sustained cognitive load

Pupillary reactions independent of light conditions have been linked to cognition for a long time. However, the light conditions can impact the cognitive pupillary reaction. Previous studies underlined the impact of luminance on pupillary reaction, but it is still unclear how luminance modulates the sustained and transient components of pupillary reaction – tonic pupil diameter and phasic pupil response. In the present study, we investigated the impact of the luminance on these two components under sustained cognitive load. Fourteen participants performed a novel working memory task combining mathematical computations with a classic n-back task. We studied both tonic pupil diameter and phasic pupil response under low (1-back) and high (2-back) working memory load and two luminance levels (gray and white). We found that the impact of working memory load on the tonic pupil diameter was modulated by the level of luminance, the increase in tonic pupil diameter with the load being larger under lower luminance. In contrast, the smaller phasic pupil response found under high load remained unaffected by luminance. These results showed that luminance impacts the cognitive pupillary reaction – tonic pupil diameter (phasic pupil response) being modulated under sustained (respectively, transient) cognitive load. These findings also support the relationship between the locus-coeruleus system, presumably functioning in two firing modes – tonic and phasic – and the pupil diameter. We suggest that the tonic pupil diameter tracks the tonic activity of the locus-coeruleus while phasic pupil response reflects its phasic activity. Besides, the designed novel cognitive paradigm allows the simultaneous manipulation of sustained and transient components of the cognitive load and is useful for dissociating the effects on the tonic pupil diameter and phasic pupil response

Stereoscopic 3D dashboards: an investigation of performance, workload, and gaze behavior during take-overs in semi-autonomous driving

When operating a conditionally automated vehicle, humans occasionally have to take over control. If the driver is out of the loop, a certain amount of time is necessary to gain situation awareness. This work evaluates the potential of stereoscopic 3D (S3D) dashboards for presenting smart S3D take-over-requests (TORs) to support situation assessment. In a driving simulator study with a 4 × 2 between-within design, we presented 3 smart TORs showing the current traffic situation and a baseline TOR in 2D and S3D to 52 participants doing the n-back task. We further investigate if non-standard locations affect the results. Take-over performance indicates that participants looked at and processed the TORs' visual information and by that, could perform more safe take-overs. S3D warnings in general, as well as warnings appearing at the participants’ focus of attention and warnings at the instrument cluster, performed best. We conclude that visual warnings, presented on an S3D dashboard, can be a valid option to support take-over while not increasing workload. We further discuss participants’ gaze behavior in the context of visual warnings for automotive user interfaces