Design of Revising Proximity between Space and Time Cues on Flight Deck Displays to Support NextGen – The First Phase

The objective of this study is to develop and evaluate novel display formats to support RTA operations for near to midterm NextGen. Traditional cockpit displays separate space and time information in distant display sources in heterogeneous formats (graphics vs. text). This design composition may cause potential pilot errors when required time of arrival (RTA) obligations are imposed at every waypoint in NextGen. Pilots were randomly assigned to four different display conditions in a simulator – one traditional display with distant space and time cues, and three novel displays with close spatial proximity between the two cues. In the first phase of the experiment for this paper, pilots firstly participated in query tests answering space/time statuses during autopilot RTA flights. The novel displays did not degrade pilots’ situation awareness of space-time as an objective measure. For subjective measure, their situation awareness was significantly higher when the space and time cues were integrated into a single display with graphical temporal conformance indicators. The close spatial proximity between space and time cues and the support of graphical temporal conformance indicator showed a promise for improved RTA navigation

Design of Revising Proximity between Space and Time Cues on Flight Deck Displays to Support NextGen – The Second Phase

The prior first phase of this study investigated the effectiveness of new design of flight deck display for required time of arrival operation of NextGen by collecting objective query response data during autopilot flights and subjective data about the perception between display condition and situation awareness level. To evaluate pilots’ mental workload during the operations when they interacted with novel flight deck display design, this second phase provided pilots with simulation flight tasks arriving at four successive waypoints on time in the same display conditions as the first phase and asked them to rate their mental workload ratings. The workload was significantly lower with the High Proximity condition - all space and time data were integrated into a single display and temporal conformance graphics were added removing the need of control display unit - than with the traditional display condition. This result strengthened the implications from the first phase: the close spatial proximity between space and time cues and the support of graphical temporal conformance indicator showed a promise for improved required time of arrival navigation

Creating Safety in the Testing Process in Primary Care Offices

Background: The testing process in primary care is complex, and it varies from one office to another. We sought to understand how family medicine offices create safety in this process. Methods: Using observations, interviews, and surveys, we collected data at four family medicine offices. We searched the interview and observation notes for stories of safety, error prevention, and recovery and coded them to a model of resilient engineering properties, work system components, and testing process steps. Results: We found only six examples of practices that were systematically creating safety in the testing process via organizational resilience. The most common resilience properties were top-level commitment and a learning culture applied to work system components of people and their tasks. Offices predominantly depended on individuals to double-check, remember, and work around ongoing problems. Conclusions: While family medicine offices overwhelming depend on individuals to work around testing process problems, important properties of office-wide safety practices included a top-level commitment and a learning culture

Recommendations Supporting Development of Flight Deck DataComm Text and Graphic Display Evaluation Guidance

In the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NexGen), voice communications will become less frequent, and most communication will occur via data communications -- uplink messages (UM) (to pilot) and downlink messages (DM) and requests (to ATC). Clearances may include simple one-element clearances such as CLIMB TO [altitude] or complex clearances created by concatenating messages to create flight trajectories that include ATC-authorized route segments, altitudes, and at least one required time of arrival (RTA). Due to the complexity of clearances, aircraft and flight deck equipment manufacturers may seek approval for new and modified flight deck displays to more clearly depict clearances to the flight crew, likely using text and graphics. This research evaluated text and hybrid text and graphic concepts to develop human factors (HF) recommendations for specialists who participate in certification of new and modified flight deck DataComm displays, and as a potential update to AC 20-140, Guidelines for Design Approval of Aircraft Data Link Communication Systems Supporting Air Traffic Services (ATS)

Concepts for an Agent Based Visualization & Characterization Tool

The overall goal of this research is to develop a tool for adapting visualizations based on the goals, performance of the user, and characterizing information and meta-information in a holistic manner to support decision making in a complex environment. Our system features such assets as state-of-the-art visualization formats, a unified architecture that incorporates the information and domain into the visualization decisions, and user interaction. The Holistic Analysis, Visualization, & Characterization Assessment Tool (HAVCAT) uses a holistic view of the information system in that not only can primary and secondary effects/relationships be found and displayed, but even tertiary, and possibly beyond. The intelligent agent structure that underlies the tool is able to search through, using semantic meanings, a myriad of possibilities that may benefit the user. The tool analyzes alternate configurations that the user may not even be aware are possible, propose visualizations which incorporate human interaction, characterize the data for adaptation purposes, and assess the effectiveness of each by testing against defined metrics

Theoretical Discussion of CAMOCS and RIAS Communication Models to Support Healthcare Information Technology Development

The increasing use of healthcare information technology has a direct, sometimes negative, effect on communication between physicians and patients. Many studies have evaluated how patient-provider interactions are affected by the implementation of an already developed technology. Instead, we propose that research in understanding and modeling communication should inform healthcare IT design so that systems can support the communication that needs to exist. This paper briefly describes two communication models (one based in healthcare and one based in business organizational communication), their similarities and differences, and research outcomes related to their use when evaluating communication in the healthcare domain. We then describe how these models might be combined and used as an underlying model to inform and validate design for healthcare IT

Theoretical Discussion of CAMOCS and RIAS Communication Models to Support Healthcare Information Technology Development

The increasing use of healthcare information technology has a direct, sometimes negative, effect on communication between physicians and patients. Many studies have evaluated how patient-provider interactions are affected by the implementation of an already developed technology. Instead, we propose that research in understanding and modeling communication should inform healthcare IT design so that systems can support the communication that needs to exist. This paper briefly describes two communication models (one based in healthcare and one based in business organizational communication), their similarities and differences, and research outcomes related to their use when evaluating communication in the healthcare domain. We then describe how these models might be combined and used as an underlying model to inform and validate design for healthcare IT

Concepts for an Agent-Based Visualization Tool for Presentation of Information with Uncertainty

To facilitate decision making tasks it is necessary to be able to see the situation. An enormous array of intelligence gathering, database, and sensor sources of information are available. Methods for visualizing the information must be established and information presented in such a way that human attention is captured and maintained on the most critical aspects of the information. Visualizations need to adapt to the changing circumstances to show the most relevant information at that time. We are developing a system called Holistic Analysis, Visualization, & Characterization Assessment Tool (HAVCAT) that uses intelligent agents that interact with the user to provide the correct information at the right time. This cutting edge system will enable visualization researchers to investigate techniques for adjusting visualizations based on user performance HAVCAT will employ domain ontologies to determine relationships within the data. The HAVCAT evidence reasoning agent distills the data and extracts the most pertinent actions or consequences. This paper describes the HAVCAT concepts and also research issues related to development of HAVCAT and techniques for directing user attention