Medical device design in context: a model of user–device interaction and consequences

The practice of evaluating interaction with devices is embedded in disciplines such as human-computer interaction and cognitive ergonomics, including concepts such as affordances, error analysis, skill, rule and knowledge based behaviour and decision making biases. This paper considers the way in which the approach that has been routinely applied to displays and control design within the control and transport domains can be transferred to the context of medical devices. The importance of considering the context in which medical devices are used and implemented is presented, and the need for a systems approach to medical device design is emphasised. Five case studies from medical device control and display design are presented as an aide to developing an understanding of the relationship between device design and resultant behaviours. On the basis of these case studies, four types of mediating factors (catalysts, enablers, facilitators and enhancers) are proposed and a model to describe the link between device design, user, context and consequences is presented

Driver Safety in Far-side and Far-oblique Crashes: A Study of Patrol Vehicles in the United States of America

The dissertation titled Driver Safety in Far-side and Far-oblique Crashes presents a novel approach to assessing vehicle cockpit safety by integrating Human Factors and Applied Mechanics. The methodology of this approach is aimed at improving safety in compact mobile workspaces such as patrol vehicle cockpits. A statistical analysis performed using Michigan state\u27s traffic crash data to assess various contributing factors that affect the risk of severe driver injuries showed that the risk was greater for unrestrained drivers (OR=3.38, p\u3c0.0001) and for incidents involving front and far-side crashes without seatbelts (OR=8.0 and 23.0 respectively, p\u3c0.005). Statistics also showed that near-side and far-side crashes pose similar threat to driver injury severity. A Human Factor survey was conducted to assess various Human-Machine/Human-Computer Interaction aspects in patrol vehicle cockpits. Results showed that tasks requiring manual operation, especially the usage of laptop, would require more attention and potentially cause more distraction. A vehicle survey conducted to evaluate ergonomics-related issues revealed that some of the equipment was in airbag deployment zones. In addition, experiments were conducted to assess the effects on driver distraction caused by changing the position of in-car accessories. A driving simulator study was conducted to mimic HMI/HCI in a patrol vehicle cockpit (20 subjects, average driving experience = 5.35 years, s.d. = 1.8). It was found that the mounting locations of manual tasks did not result in a significant change in response times. Visual displays resulted in response times less than 1.5sec. It can also be concluded that the manual task was equally distracting regardless of mounting positions (average response time was 15 secs). Average speeds and lane deviations did not show any significant results. Data from 13 full-scale sled tests conducted to simulate far-side impacts at 70 PDOF and 40 PDOF was used to analyze head injuries and HIC/AIS values. It was found that accelerations generated by the vehicle deceleration alone were high enough to cause AIS 3 - AIS 6 injuries. Pretensioners could mitigated injuries only in 40 PDOF (oblique) impacts but are useless in 70 PDOF impacts. Seat belts were ineffective in protecting the driver\u27s head from injuries. Head would come in contact with the laptop during a far-oblique (40 PDOF) crash and far-side door for an angle-type crash (70 PDOF). Finite Element analysis head-laptop impact interaction showed that the contact velocity was the most crucial factor in causing a severe (and potentially fatal) head injury. Results indicate that no equipment may be mounted in driver trajectory envelopes. A very narrow band of space is left in patrol vehicles for installation of manual-task equipment to be both safe and ergonomic. In case of a contact, the material stiffness and damping properties play a very significant role in determining the injury outcome. Future work may be done on improving the interiors\u27 material properties to better absorb and dissipate kinetic energy of the head. The design of seat belts and pretensioners may also be seen as an essential aspect to be further improved

Концептуальная модель системы «водитель-автомобиль-дорога-среда»

In this paper, we present a new conceptual model of the driver-car-road-environment system based on the theory of functional systems and the hierarchical driver model that consists of three levels that are strategic, tactical and physical levels. In this model, the information interactions at the tactical level of the driver are considered as interactions of multimodal images of actual, desired and current road situations. The proposed concept also includes an attention function that plays a significant role in providing safe driving and demonstrates the importance of cross-modal interactions in perception and cognition while driving. This conceptual model can be used to develop appropriate mathematical models of driving with increased cognitive load to study the mechanisms underlying the driving abilities in a person. Additionally, such mathematical models can be used to develop and investigate new methods to improve professionally important qualities of drivers and the resumption of the driver’s control over the vehicle.Communicated by Corresponding Member Leonid G. KrasnevskyПредложена концептуальная модель системы «водитель-автомобиль-дорога-среда», впервые использующая положения теории функциональных систем и представление водителя в виде функциональной системы, содержащей три уровня: стратегический, тактический и физический. Информационные взаимодействия на тактическом уровне водителя рассматриваются как взаимодействия мультимодальных образов элементов системы «водитель-автомобиль-дорога-среда», представленных в виде векторов состояний этих элементов. Рассмотрены факторы, влияющие на эффективность функционирования тактического уровня водителя в отношении обеспечения безопасности дорожного движения. Показана значимость функции внимания и связанных с ней особенностей кроссмодальных взаимодействий в центральной нервной системе человека и информационных потоках в бортовых системах для безопасного управления транспортным средством. Показано, что создание эффективных человеко-машинных интерфейсов представляется наиболее перспективным подходом к повышению безопасности дорожного движения, поскольку позволяет глубже, более адекватно и разносторонне интегрировать функции водителя и транспортного средства в единую систему с общей целевой функцией.Представлено членом-корреспондентом Л.Г. Красневски

People Can Be So Fake: A New Dimension to Privacy and Technology Scholarship

This article updates the traditional discussion of privacy and technology, focused since the days of Warren and Brandeis on the capacity of technology to manipulate information. It proposes a novel dimension to the impact of anthropomorphic or social design on privacy. Technologies designed to imitate people-through voice, animation, and natural language-are increasingly commonplace, showing up in our cars, computers, phones, and homes. A rich literature in communications and psychology suggests that we are hardwired to react to such technology as though a person were actually present. Social interfaces accordingly capture our attention, improve interactivity, and can free up our hands for other tasks. At the same time, technologies that imitate people have the potential to implicate long-standing privacy values. One of the well-documented effects on users of interfaces and devices that emulate people is the sensation of being observed and evaluated. Their presence can alter our attitude, behavior, and physiological state. Widespread adoption of such technology may accordingly lessen opportunities for solitude and chill curiosity and self-development. These effects are all the more dangerous in that they cannot be addressed through traditional privacy protections such as encryption or anonymization. At the same time, the unique properties of social technology also present an opportunity to improve privacy, particularly online

Подход к организации передачи управления транспортным средством от автоматизированной системы вождения человеку

The analysis of trends in the development of the automotive industry and well-known methods of automating vehicle control served the basis for us to propose an approach to organizing the transfer of vehicle control from an automated driving system to a person. The approach involves monitoring the vehicle performance and the systems that provide automated driving, the state of the environment and the driver's psychophysiological state, as well as road conditions on the upcoming path, predicting the place and time of transition of control to the driver, determining and regulating his/her readiness to take control if necessary. This approach is peculiar for in time of automated driving, the minimum level of the driver's readiness to operate the vehicle is constantly maintained, which is brought to optimal within a certain time before the scheduled transition to manual control. This two-level monitoring of the condition of drivers of highly automated vehicles will improve road safety both in cases of predicted and unexpected need for an emergency transition from automated to manual driving. The aim of the work is to develop a methodology for improving road safety with highly automated vehicles involved.На основе анализа тенденций в развитии автомобилестроения и известных методов автоматизации управления транспортными средствами предложен подход к организации передачи управления транспортным средством от автоматизированной системы вождения человеку. Подход предполагает мониторинг параметров функционирования транспортного средства и систем, обеспечивающих автоматизированное вождение, состояния окружающей среды и психофизиологического состояния водителя, а также условий дорожного движения на предстоящем пути, прогнозирование места и времени передачи управления водителю, определение и регулирование его готовности взять управление на себя при возникновении такой необходимости. Особенностью предложенного подхода является то, что при автоматизированном вождении постоянно поддерживается минимальный уровень готовности водителя к управлению транспортным средством, который в течение определенного интервала времени перед запланированным переходом к ручному управлению доводится до оптимального. Такой двухуровневый контроль состояния водителей высокоавтоматизированных транспортных средств позволит повысить безопасность дорожного движения как в случаях прогнозируемой, так и в случаях неожиданно возникающей необходимости экстренного перехода от автоматизированного к ручному вождению. Цель работы – развитие методологии повышения безопасности дорожного движения с участием высокоавтоматизированных транспортных средств

Hierarchical wireless framework for real-time collaborative generation and distribution of telemetry data

This project introduces a novel multidisciplinary approach combining Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks and Granular Computing, to the data processing and information generation problem in large urban traffic systems. It addresses the challenge of realtime information generation and dissemination in such systems by designing and investigating a hierarchical real-time information framework. The research work is complemented by designing and developing a simulator for such a system, which provides a simulation environment for the model developed. The proposed multidisciplinary hierarchical real-time information processing and dissemination system framework utilises results from two different areas of study, which are Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks (VANETS) and Granular Computing concepts. Furthermore, a new geographically constrained VANET topology for information generation is proposed, simulated and investigated