Eye movements and brain oscillations to symbolic safety signs with different comprehensibility

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate eye movements and brain oscillations to symbolic safety signs with different comprehensibility. Methods: Forty-two young adults participated in this study, and ten traffic symbols consisting of easy-to-comprehend and hard-to-comprehend signs were used as stimuli. During the sign comprehension test, real-time eye movements and spontaneous brain activity [electroencephalogram (EEG) data] were simultaneously recorded. Results: The comprehensibility level of symbolic traffic signs significantly affects eye movements and EEG spectral power. The harder to comprehend the sign is, the slower the blink rate, the larger the pupil diameter, and the longer the time to first fixation. Noticeable differences on EEG spectral power between easy-to-comprehend and hard-to-comprehend signs are observed in the prefrontal and visual cortex of the human brain. Conclusions: Sign comprehensibility has significant effects on real-time nonintrusive eye movements and brain oscillations. These findings demonstrate the potential to integrate physiological measures from eye movements and brain oscillations with existing evaluation methods in assessing the comprehensibility of symbolic safety signs.open

Comprehension and redesign of recently introduced water-sport prohibitive symbols in South Korea

The goal of this study is to evaluate the comprehensibility of recently introduced water-sport prohibitive symbols by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy (MKE, now the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy) of South Korea, and to redesign the poorly comprehended symbols based on participants' feedback and three universal ergonomic principles. Evaluation of comprehensibility and cognitive features of fourteen water-sport prohibitive symbols were conducted with forty Korean participants. Only two out of fourteen symbols have comprehension rates higher than the level recommended by ISO standard. Four poorly comprehended symbols are redesigned based on ergonomic design principles and participants' feedback. A follow-up experiment with another group of twenty Korean participants was conducted to verify the effectiveness of the redesign process and results showed redesigned symbols have better adherence to ergonomic design principles and enhanced comprehensibility than the original ones. The findings may serve as a useful input for researchers and designers in creating easily comprehended symbols to promote safety. Relevance to industry: Warning symbols have long been used as an interface to communicate critical situation-specific information to prospective users in industrial undertakings so that the risk of accidents and injuries can be reduced. The findings of this study provide useful information for designers in developing easily comprehended symbols to promote safety. © 2015 Elsevier B.Vclose0