A Highway-Driving System Design Viewpoint using an Agent-based Modeling of an Affordance-based Finite State Automata

This paper presents an agent-based modeling framework for affordance-based driving behaviors during the exit maneuver of driver agents in human-integrated transportation problems. We start our discussion from one novel modeling framework based on the concept of affordance called the Affordance-based Finite State Automata (AFSA) model, which incorporates the human perception of resource availability and action capability. Then, the agent-based simulation illustrates the validity of the AFSA framework for the Highway-Lane-Driver System. Next, the comparative study between real driving data and agent-based simulation outputs is provided using the transition diagram. Finally, we perform a statistical analysis and a correlation study to analyze affordance-based driving behavior of driver agents. The simulation results show that the AFSA model well represents the perception-based human actions and drivers??? characteristics, which are essential for the design viewpoint of control framework of human driver modeling. This study is also expected to benefit a designed control for autonomous/self-driving car in the future

Perception-based analytical technique of evacuation behavior under radiological emergency: An illustration of the Kori area

A simulation-based approach is proposed to study the protective actions taken by residents during nuclear emergencies using cognitive findings. Human perception-based behaviors are not heavily incorporated in the evacuation study for nuclear emergencies despite their known importance. This study proposes a generic framework of perception-based behavior simulation, in accordance with the ecological concept of affordance theory and a formal representation of affordance-based finite state automata. Based on the generic framework, a simulation model is developed to allow an evacuee to perceive available actions and execute one of them according to Newton & rsquo;s laws of motion. The case of a shadow evacuation under nuclear emergency is utilized to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed framework. The illustrated planning algorithm enables residents to compute not only prior knowledge of the environmental map, but also the perception of dynamic surroundings, using widely observed heuristics. The simulation results show that the temporal and spatial dynamics of the evacuation behaviors can be analyzed based on individual perception of circumstances, while utilizing the findings in cognitive science under unavoidable data restriction of nuclear emergencies. The perception-based analysis of the proposed framework is expected to enhance nuclear safety technology by complementing macroscopic analyses for advanced protective measures. (c) 2020 Korean Nuclear Society, Published by Elsevier Korea LLC. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

An affordance-based requirements approach for developing therapeutic artefacts - a case study of speech and language toys

An effort to solve real-world problems through the creation of new or improved products, such as rehabilitation or therapeutic devices, requires a human-centred design approach. Lack of domain knowledge about the use context and accessibility to key experts or end users pose significant challenges to the designer during the task clarification stage in understanding the end-user requirements. This article presents a computer-based design support tool, ACQUAINT-SALTT, based on a prescriptive computer architecture that allows the generation of affordance-based requirements (ABRs) for an emerging family of products known as speech and language therapeutic toys (SALTTs). Considering affordances, the end-user requirements can be detailed as a relationship between the product and the user within a context while keeping the problem as abstract as possible without restricting creativity. A prototype therapeutic toy, Olly Speaks, was developed and evaluated through usability studies carried out with clinicians, caregivers, and pre-schoolers to assess its therapeutic impact both within and outside the clinic.peer-reviewe

Cyber-Archaeology: Notes on the simulation of the past

[EN] Thirteen years after the book “Virtual Archaeology” (Forte, 1996, 97) it is time to re-discuss the definition, the key concepts and some new trends and applications. The paper discusses the introduction of the term “cyber-archaeology” in relation with the simulation process deriving from the inter-connected and multivocal feedback between users/actors and virtual ecosystems. In this new context of cyber worlds, it is more appropriate to talk about simulation of the past rather than reconstruction of the past. The multivocality of the simulation opens new perspectives in the interpretation process, not imposing the final reconstruction, but suggesting, evocating, simulating multiple output, not “the past” but a potential past. New epistemological models of cyber archaeology have to be investigated: what happens in a immersive environment of virtual archaeology where every user is “embodied” in the cyber space? The ontology of archaeological information, or the cybernetics of archaeology, refers to all the interconnective relationships which the datum produces, the code of transmission, and its transmittability. Because it depends on interrelationships, by its very nature information cannot be neutral with respect to how it is processed and perceived. It follows that the process of knowledge and communication have to be unified and represented by a single vector. 3D information is regarded as the core of the knowledge process, because it creates feedback, then cybernetic difference, among the interactor, the scientist and the ecosystem. It is argued that Virtual Reality (both offline and online) represents a possible ecosystem, which is able to host top-down and bottom-up processes of knowledge and communication. In these terms, the past is generated and coded by “a simulation process”. Thus, from the first phases of data acquisition in the field, the technical methodologies and technologies that we use, influence in a decisive way all the subsequent phases of interpretation and communication. In the light of these considerations, what is the relationship between information and representation? How much information does a digital model contain? What sorts of and how many ontologies ought to be chosen to permit an acceptable transmittability? Indeed, our Archaeological communication ought to be understood as a process of validation of the entire cognitive process of understanding and not as a simple addendum to research, or as a dispensable compendium of data.[ES] Trece años después de la publicación del libro "Arqueología virtual" (Forte, 1996, 97) es el momento de volver a discutir sobre la definición, los conceptos clave y algunas nuevas tendencias y aplicaciones de la arqueología virtual. El presente documento analiza la introducción del término "cyber-arqueología" en relación con el proceso de simulación derivado de la interconexión y la retroalimentación multivocal y entre los usuarios / actores y ecosistemas virtuales. En este nuevo contexto de mundos cibernéticos, es más adecuado hablar de simulación del pasado que de reconstrucción del pasado. La multivocalidad de la simulación abre nuevas perspectivas en el proceso de interpretación, no imponiendo la última reconstrucción, sino sugiriendo, evocando, simulando múltiples resultados, y no "el pasado", sino un potencial pasado. Nuevos modelos epistemológicos de la arqueología cibernética deben ser investigados: Que ocurre en un entorno inmersivo de arqueología virtual cuando cada usuario es "materializado" en el espacio cibernético? La ontología de la información arqueológica, o la cibernética de la arqueología, se refiere a la interconectividad de todas las relaciones que produce el dato, el código de envío, y su transmisibilidad. Porque depende de las interrelaciones, por su propia naturaleza, la información no puede ser neutral con respecto a la forma en que se procesa y percibe. De ello se deduce que el proceso de conocimiento y la comunicación han de ser unificadas y representadas por un único vector. La información 3D se considera como el núcleo del proceso de conocimiento, porque propicia la retroalimentación, entre el usuario, el científico y el ecosistema. Se argumenta que la Realidad Virtual (tanto fuera de línea como en línea) representa un posible ecosistema, que es capaz de ser anfitrión de los procesos de conocimiento y comunicación tanto de arriba a abajo como de abajo a arriba. En estos términos, el pasado se genera y codifica por "un proceso de simulación". Así, desde las primeras fases de adquisición de datos sobre el terreno, las metodologías técnicas así como las tecnologías que usamos, influyen de manera decisiva en todas las fases de interpretación y comunicación. A la luz de estas consideraciones, ¿cuál es la relación entre la información y la representación? ¿Cuánta información quedará incluida en el modelo digital? ¿Qué clase y cuántas ontologías deberían ser elegidas para permitir una transmisibilidad aceptable? De hecho, la comunicación arqueológica debe ser entendida como una fase de validación de todo el proceso cognitivo de comprensión del conocimiento, y no como una simple adición a la investigación, o como un compendio de los datos prescindible.The Virtual Museum of the Ancient Via Flaminia was supported by Arcus spa and managed by CNR-ITABC (scientific direction) and National Roman Museum in RomeForte, M. (2011). Cyber-Archaeology: Notes on the simulation of the past. Virtual Archaeology Review. 2(4):7-18. https://doi.org/10.4995/var.2011.4543OJS71824ANTINUCCI, A., 2004, Comunicare il museo, Laterza, Roma, 2004.BAUDRILLARD J.. 1994, Simulacra and Simulation, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1994.BATESON, 1967, "Cybernetic explanation", in SEM, 410.BATESON, 1972, Steps to an Ecology of Mind , San Francisco, Chandler Press.BATESON G., 1979, Mind and Nature. A Necessary Unit, Dutton, New York.BIOCCA F. 1997, The cyborg's dilemma: Progressive embodiment in virtual environments, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, vol. 3, n. 2, 1997. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1083-6101.1997.tb00070.x http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/ct.1997.617676DELEUZE G., GUATTARI, F., 1987, A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia, University of Minnesota Press, 1987FORTE, M. 1997, (ed. by) Virtual Archaeology, (forward by Colin Renfrew) Thames & Hudson Ltd, 1997 (1st edition 1996, Milan).FORTE, M., 2000, About virtual archaeology: disorders, cognitive interactions and virtuality, in Barcelo J., Forte M., Sanders D., 2000 (eds.), Virtual reality in archaeology, Oxford, ArcheoPress (BAR International Series S 843), 247-263.FORTE M., 2003, Mindscape: ecological thinking, cyber-anthropology, and virtual archaeological landscapes, in "The reconstruction of Archaeological Landscapes through Digital Technologies" (eds. M.Forte, P.R.Williams), Proceedings of the 1st Italy-United States Workshop, Boston, Massachussets, USA, November 1-3, 2001, BAR International Series 1151, Oxford, 2002, 95-108.FORTE M., 2005, A Digital "Cyber" Protocol for the Reconstruction of the Archaeological Landscape: Virtual Reality and Mindscapes in Recording, Modeling and Visualization of Cultural Heritage (eds: E.Baltsavias, A.Gruen, L.Van Gool, M.Pateraki) Published by Taylor & Francis / Balkema ISBN 0 415 39208 X, 339-351, 2005.FORTE et alii, 2006; M.Forte, S.Pescarin, E.Pietroni, C.Rufa, 2006, Multiuser interaction in an archaeological landscape: the Flaminia Project, in (M.Forte, S.Campana, eds.by) From Space to Place, Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Remote Sensing in Archaeology, Rome, December 4-7, 2006, BAR International Series 1568, Archaeopress, Oxford, 2006, 189-196.FORTE, M, Pescarin, S. Pietroni, E., 2006, Transparency, interaction, communication and open source in Virtual Archaeology, in (M.Forte, S.Campana, eds.by) From Space to Place, Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Remote Sensing in Archaeology, Rome, December 4-7, 2006, BAR International Series 1568, Archaeopress, Oxford, 2006 535-540.FORTE, M., 2007, Ecological Cybernetics, Virtual Reality and Virtual Heritage, in "Theorizing Digital Cultural Heritage. A Critical Discourse" (Edited by Fiona Cameron and Sarah Kenderdine), MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 389-407. http://dx.doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/9780262033534.003.0020FORTE M., 2008 (ed.), La Villa di Livia. Un percorso di ricerca di archeologia virtuale, L'Herma, Rome, 2008.GALLESE, V. 2005, Embodied simulation: From Neurons to Phenomenal Experience, "Phenomenology and the cognitive sciences", 4, 23-48. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11097-005-4737-zGIBSON, J. J., 1999. Un approccio ecologico alla percezione visiva (Il Mulino: Bologna).INGOLD, T., 2000, The perception of the Enviroment. Essays in livelihood, dwelling and skill, London and New York, Routledge. http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9780203466025KORZYBSKI A., 1941, Science and Sanity, Science Press, New York, 1941.MATURANA, H, Varela, F., 1980, Autopoiesis and Cognition: the Realization of the Living, Boston Studies in the philosophy of science, Cohen, Robert S., And Marx W. Wartofsky (eds.), vol. 42, Dordecht (Holland): D. Reidel Publishing Co., 1980. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-8947-4MATURANA, H, Varela, F., 1992, The Tree of Knowledge: the Biological Roots of Human Understanding, Boston: Shambhala, 1987, (Revised Edition: same publisher, 1992).MELLET-D'HUART D., 2006, A Model of (En)Action to approach Embodiment: A Cornerstone for the Design of Virtual Environments for Learning, in Win W. & Hedley N., Eds. Journal of Virtual reality, special issue on education. Springer London. 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Model-Based Usability Analysis of Safety-Critical Systems: A Formal Methods Framework

Complex, safety-critical systems are designed with a broad range of automated and configurable components, and usability problems often emerge for the end user during setup, operation, and troubleshooting procedures. Usability evaluations should consider the entire human-device interface including displays, controls, hardware configurations, and user documentation/procedures. To support the analyst, human factors researchers have developed a set of methods and measures for evaluating human-system interface usability, while formal methods researchers have developed a set of model-based technologies that enable mathematical verification of desired system behaviors. At the intersection of these disciplines, an evolving set of model-based frameworks enable highly automated verification of usability early in the design cycle. Models can be abstracted to enable broad coverage of possible problems, while measures can be formally verified to "prove" that the system is usable. Currently, frameworks cover a subset of the target system and user behaviors that must be modeled to ensure usability: procedures, visual displays, user controls, automation, and possible interactions among them. Similarly, verification methodologies focus on a subset of potential usability problems with respect to modeled interactions. This work provides an integrated formal methods framework enabling the holistic modeling and verification of safety-critical system usability. Building toward the framework, a set of five, novel approaches extend the capabilities of extant frameworks in different ways. Each approach is demonstrated in a medical device case study to show how the methods can be employed to identify potential usability problems in existing systems. A formal approach to documentation navigation models an end user navigating through a printed or electronic document and verifies page reachability. A formal approach to procedures in documentation models an end user executing steps as written and aids in identifying problems involving what device components are identified in task descriptions, what system configurations are addressed, and what temporal orderings of procedural steps could be improved. A formal approach to hardware configurability models end-user motor capabilities, relationships among the user and device components in the spatial environment, and opportunities for the user to physically manipulate components. An encoding tool facilitates the modeling process, while a verification methodology aids in ensuring that configurable hardware supports correct end- user actions and prevents incorrect ones. A formal approach to interface understandability models what information is provided to the end user through visual, audible, and haptic sensory channels, including explanations provided in accompanying documentation. An encoding tools facilitates the development of models and specifications, while the verification methodology aids in ensuring that what is displayed on the device is consistent; and, if needed, an explanation of what is displayed is provided in documentation. A formal approach to controlled actuators leverages an existing modeling technique and data collected from other engineering activities to model actuator dynamics mapping to referent data. An encoding tool facilitates model development, and a verification methodology aids in validating the model with respect to source data. Finally, new methodologies are combined within the integrated framework. A model architecture supports the analyst in representing a broad range of interactions among constituent framework models, and a set of ten specifications is developed to enable holistic usability verification. An implementation of the framework is demonstrated within a case study based on a medical device under development. This application shows how the framework could be utilized early in the design of a safety-critical system, without the need for a fully implemented device or a team of human evaluators.Ph.D., Biomedical Science -- Drexel University, 201