Pilot Performance and Eye Movement Activity with Varying Levels of Display Integration in a Synthetic Vision Cockpit

The primary goal of the present study was to investigate the effects of display integration in a simulated commercial aircraft cockpit equipped with a synthetic vision display. Combinations of display integration level (low/high), display view (synthetic vision view/traditional display), and workload (low/high) were presented to each participant. Sixteen commercial pilots flew multiple approaches under IMC conditions in a moderate fidelity fixed-base part-task simulator. Pilot performance data, visual activity, mental workload, and self-report situation awareness were measured. Congruent with the Proximity Compatibility Principle, the more integrated display facilitated superior performance on integrative tasks (lateral and vertical path maintenance), whereas a less integrated display elicited better focus task performance (airspeed maintenance). The synthetic vision displays facilitated superior path maintenance performance under low workload, but these performance gains were not as evident during high workload. The majority of the eye movement findings identified differences in visual acquisition of the airspeed indicator, the glideslope indicator, the localizer, and the altimeter as a function of display integration level or display view. There were more fixations on the airspeed indicator with the more integrated display layout and during high workload trials. There were also more fixations on the glideslope indicator with the more integrated display layout. However, there were more fixations on the localizer with the less integrated display layout. There were more fixations on the altimeter with the more integrated display and with the traditional view. Only a few eye movement differences were produced by the synthetic vision displays; pilots looked at the glideslope indicator and the altimeter less with the synthetic vision view. This supports the notion that utilizing a synthetic vision display should not adversely impact visual acquisition of data. Self-report mental workload and situation awareness data highlight additional benefits of display integration and synthetic vision displays. Design and retrofit implications are discussed and future research is suggested to further examine these issues

The Psychology of Vehicle Performance: Implications for the Uptake of Electric Vehicles

Road transport accounts for around 16% of global CO2 emissions, and electric vehicles (EVs) represent a potential mitigation route. High performance might offset the disadvantages of higher cost and short range that make their uptake problematic. This research investigated how consumer drivers construe, perceive and value vehicle performance. Research with UK drivers, using the repertory grid method, found that drivers construe vehicle performance as having two independent dimensions, dynamic and cruising performance. A new inter-goal dynamics and feedback control model of driving behaviour was developed to account for differences in the opportunities afforded to perceive vehicle performance in naturalistic driving. This was embedded in a Bayesian model for perception of available vehicle performance. Driving simulation and test track experiments with UK drivers found that: driving behaviour was strongly affected by goal activation; drivers could perceive performance differences in naturalistic driving, but only if they were large; the lowest perceptual difference threshold, for mid-range available vehicle acceleration, was 7.7%; smaller differences could affect driving behaviour (overtaking) through a process of implicit learning. The symbolic value of products is conferred by their symbolic meanings. Two new methods were developed to quantify symbolic meanings, grounded in costly signalling theory, which represents them in terms of personality traits of a typical user. The symbolic meanings of car types, performance attributes and driving styles were all measured. In a randomised controlled trial, UK consumer drivers rated an EV better on dynamic and cruising performance than a conventional ICE control, but this benefit was insufficient to outweigh the disadvantages. The symbolic meaning of an EV was found to be consistent with cruising performance, but inconsistent with dynamic performance. Extended-range EVs would have the dynamic and cruising performance benefits of EVs without the range disadvantages, and may be a desirable option for many once costs reduce

Proceedings of the Second International Mobile Satellite Conference (IMSC 1990)

Presented here are the proceedings of the Second International Mobile Satellite Conference (IMSC), held June 17-20, 1990 in Ottawa, Canada. Topics covered include future mobile satellite communications concepts, aeronautical applications, modulation and coding, propagation and experimental systems, mobile terminal equipment, network architecture and control, regulatory and policy considerations, vehicle antennas, and speech compression

Engineering data compendium. Human perception and performance, volume 3

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 of 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 existing research literature, and (2) presenting this technical information in a way that would aid its accessibility, interpretability, and applicability by system designers. The present four volumes of the Engineering Data Compendium represent the first implementation of this strategy. This is Volume 3, containing sections on Human Language Processing, Operator Motion Control, Effects of Environmental Stressors, Display Interfaces, and Control Interfaces (Real/Virtual)

Improving Antibiotic Resistant Infection Transmission Situational Awareness in Enclosed Facilities with a Novel Graphical User Interface for Tactical Biosurveillance

Serious challenges associated with antibiotic resistant infections (ABRIs) force healthcare practitioners (HCP) to seek innovative approaches that will slow the emergence of new ABRIs and prevent their spread. It was realized that traditional approaches to infection prevention based on education, retrospective reports, and biosurveillance often fail to ensure reliable compliance with infection prevention guidelines and real-time problem solving. The objective of this original research was to develop and test the conceptual design of a situational awareness (SA)-oriented information system for coping with healthcare-associated infection transmission. Constantly changing patterns in spatial distribution of patients, prevalence of infectious cases, clustering of contacts, and frequency of contacts may compromise the effectiveness of infection prevention and control in hospitals. It was hypothesized that providing HCPs with a graphical user interface (GUI) to visualize spatial information on the risks of exposure to ABRIs would effectively increase HCPs’ SA. Increased SA may enhance biosurveillance and result in tactical decisions leading to better patient outcomes. The study employed a mixed qualitative-quantitative research method encompassing conceptualization of GUI content, transcription of electronic health record and biosurveillance data into GUI visual artifacts, and evaluation of the GUI’s impact on HCPs’ perception and comprehension of the conditions that increase the risk of ABRI transmission. The study provided pilot evidence that visualization of spatial disease distribution and spatially-linked exposures and interventions significantly increases HCPs’ SA when compared to current practice. The research demonstrates that the SA-oriented GUI enables the HCPs to promptly answer the question, “At a given location, what are the risks of infection transmission there?” This research provides a new form of medical knowledge representation for spatial population-based decision-making within enclosed environments. The next steps include rapid application development and further hypothesis testing concerning the impact of this GUI on decsion-making

Digital architecture and designing architecture space and ITS effect on future life strategy

Technological advancements have altered nearly every aspect of individuals’ existence and operation in society. When technologies develop, architecture evolves as well: the architectural techniques change, as does the architectural outcome. The digital revolution reflected on architecture, as did other scientific and life fields. Its impact on the work and architectural space was evident. The architectural production became not limited to designing in traditional ways and directing it as computer drawings. Still, it went beyond that, as the designs produced became the product of an intelligent design process directly influenced by the digital community in general. Architectural space has gone through many developments throughout history influenced by technology and building techniques on the one hand and by functional and environmental issues and human factors on the other hand. The architectural space appeared in the form of a living being that grows over time and is influenced by all the variables of the times and expresses the personality of its inhabitants. If the architect determines space and its composition according to human needs, it is also influenced by the imagination of architecture and its vision of freedom. Therefore, the problem of research was determined by "the lack of a clear vision of the development of architectural space and how it is affected by the digital revolution," where the research aims to identify indicators of the development of architectural space in light of digital development and how architectural thought deals with the changes brought about by information technology, and how it was expressed in the form of areas that meet the needs of users, which in turn changed in terms of sensory needs or physical needs. The research thus assumed "the existence of mechanisms, strategies, levels, and degrees of digital use within the process of designing architectural and urban space to generate digital space," and to achieve this will begin to learn about the evolution of space and what it is over time with a quick presentation of the most prominent developments in the architectural and urban space, especially in the recent years, to a final formulation of the characteristics of knowledge of digital areas

Design Strategies for Adaptive Social Composition: Collaborative Sound Environments

In order to develop successful collaborative music systems a variety of subtle interactions need to be identified and integrated. Gesture capture, motion tracking, real-time synthesis, environmental parameters and ubiquitous technologies can each be effectively used for developing innovative approaches to instrument design, sound installations, interactive music and generative systems. Current solutions tend to prioritise one or more of these approaches, refining a particular interface technology, software design or compositional approach developed for a specific composition, performer or installation environment. Within this diverse field a group of novel controllers, described as ‘Tangible Interfaces’ have been developed. These are intended for use by novices and in many cases follow a simple model of interaction controlling synthesis parameters through simple user actions. Other approaches offer sophisticated compositional frameworks, but many of these are idiosyncratic and highly personalised. As such they are difficult to engage with and ineffective for groups of novices. The objective of this research is to develop effective design strategies for implementing collaborative sound environments using key terms and vocabulary drawn from the available literature. This is articulated by combining an empathic design process with controlled sound perception and interaction experiments. The identified design strategies have been applied to the development of a new collaborative digital instrument. A range of technical and compositional approaches was considered to define this process, which can be described as Adaptive Social Composition. Dan Livingston

Environmental knowledge and city perception: with a focus on the energy link to environmental aesthetics

Architecture exists to respond to environmental problems that affect human life, many of which are directly related to energy principles. In the early stages of man's adaptation, these challenges set the criteria for indigenous architecture. Certain formal solutions became recognised as more reliable in meeting environmental potentials and a deep appreciation of these emerged. This persisted even as the evolution of the intellect allowed man to move away from direct, survivalist responses to the environment into a more symbol -based and mutual relationship.The process of change, however, has developed into one of internationalisation. In Libya, the subject area of this thesis, building techniques are used that have no relevance to the environment. This fracture between the natural and artificial has created many problems. This thesis will research these accumulated problems by studying the city image, which lead the author to assert the role of energy in setting the criteria for environmental quality

Presenting information in manual assembly

Ever since industrialization, manufacturing companies have competed with each other in trying to make the best and the cheapest product and the automotive industry is definitely no exception. The arms race between truck and car manufacturers has pushed manufacturing technology and production practice to where it is today. However, whereas companies have traditionally competed with the engineering excellence and technology of their products, the human effort in production is often neglected. After all, there are still many tasks that require the flexibility and intelligence of a human worker. This thesis focuses entirely on the information context of assembly workers. It investigates and discusses their general information behaviour in terms of information need, syntax of information, information sources and technology as well as basic cognitive abilities used to utilize information such as attention and memory. The thesis presents relevant literature on the subject of information behaviour and pinpoints potential hazards of information design in manual assembly. It also identifies three hypotheses that suggest improved productivity and quality of work as a result of certain changes in the information landscape. One hypothesis deals with the layout of information, a second deals with the syntax used to identify parts and a third deals with the information medium used to convey information. Analysis of empirical data gathered shows, among other things, that using unstructured and batched information favours productivity of work; using a syntax with semantic content as opposed to traditional article numbers without any semantic content also improves productivity of work; and using a mobile information unit betters the quality of work. The purpose of the thesis is to present the beginnings of a road map towards the greater understanding of information presentation in manual assembly. As previous research on this application area has been scarce, it draws upon existing theories found in other sciences, primarily cognitive science and its applications such as Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), information theory and human error