RECENT STUDIES OF COMPARATIVE PHILOSOPHY IN THE BALKANS: INTERVIEW WITH JANA S. ROŠKER

ADAS&M

Usability of the SAFEWAY@SCHOOL system in children with cognitive disabilities

PurposeSAFEWAY2SCHOOL is a programme based on several systems for the enhancement of school transportation safety for children. The aim of the study was to explore whether children with cognitive disabilities will notice, realise, understand, trust and accept the SAFEWAY2SCHOOL system and act in accordance with its instructions. Methods Fourteen children with cognitive disabilities and a control group of 23 children were shown five videos of scenarios involving journeys to and from school. During the first viewing visual scanning patterns were recorded with an eye tracking device. After a second viewing the participant was asked ten questions per scenario. Five questions addressed what the children saw on the video, and the remaining five what they would need to know and/or do within the scenario. Additional ratings of trust, likability, acceptability and usability were also collected. Results Very few differences were found in the visual scanning patterns of children with disabilities compared to children who participated in the control group. Of the 50 questions regarding what children saw or needed to know and/or do, only one significant difference between groups was found. No significant differences were found regarding self-reported ratings of trust, acceptability or usability of the system. Despite some significant differences across five of the 11 likability aspects, ratings were consistently high for both groups. Conclusions Children with cognitive disabilities proved that the SAFEWAY2SCHOOL system is as useful for them as it was for children in the control group. However, a valid estimation of the full utility of SAFEWAY2SCHOOL requires in situ testing of the system with these children

Visual demand in manual task performance - Towards a virtual evaluation

Visual information is crucial for carrying out motor activities. However, knowledgeabout the effects of visual demand on the performance of manual tasks is not welldocumented. Visual determinants must be identified in order to be used in visualisationand simulation tools (e.g. computer manikins) as well as considered during ergonomicevaluations of workplaces and products. This thesis developed a visual demand modelin which the characteristics of the task, the operator and the environment have aninfluence on the visual demand related to the performance of a task and result in aspecific behaviour. This model has been used for the design of the five appendedpapers. The overall aim was to identify the determinants of visual demand in manualtask performance. Two scenarios were investigated: car driving and manual assemblywork. Paper I was an inductive study where the visual demand model was used toexamine how the task, environment and operator characteristics influence the visualdemand involved in assembly work. Paper II dealt with the effect of the taskcharacteristic, e.g. precision, as determinants of visual demand on working posture andmovement paths in a laboratory study. Paper III investigated the influence of the taskand the environmental characteristics, i.e. time pressure, real motorway and interior cardesign as determinants of the visual demand on drivers visual behaviour and primarytask performance. Paper IV examined the influence of the environment, the task andoperator characteristics, i.e. time pressure, real motorway, interior car design, driversage and skill as determinants of the visual demand on a drivers visual behaviour andprimary task performance. Paper V studied how visual demand can be predicted usinga visualisation tool such as a computer manikin. Numerous methods have been used tohighlight the relation between visual demand and the behaviour produced by operators:an eye tracking system, motion tracking, observations, and interviews. Designing thestudies with high level of validity was a priority and the majority of the studied focusedon the subjects in their own environment, e.g. secondary task performance whilstdriving in motorway traffic and assembly work in an industrial plant. The followingvisual determinants of manual task performance were identified: degree of precisiondegree required in manual assembly, fine-tuned activity in manual assembly, location ofin-car controls, drivers age and experience. Vision analysis carried out with computermanikin software does not really facilitate detection and consideration of visualdemand, as it does not provide a method for analysing the visual determinants for aspecific task. Suggestions concerning the design of the vision module and a method forhow to use it are proposed. A further step will be to take into account psychomotortasks and mental load into account in order to evaluate visual demand, i.e. study theinfluence of cognition on motor activity as well as its effect on task and workplacedesign

Visual demand in manual task performance - Towards a virtual evaluation

Visual information is crucial for carrying out motor activities. However, knowledgeabout the effects of visual demand on the performance of manual tasks is not welldocumented. Visual determinants must be identified in order to be used in visualisationand simulation tools (e.g. computer manikins) as well as considered during ergonomicevaluations of workplaces and products. This thesis developed a visual demand modelin which the characteristics of the task, the operator and the environment have aninfluence on the visual demand related to the performance of a task and result in aspecific behaviour. This model has been used for the design of the five appendedpapers. The overall aim was to identify the determinants of visual demand in manualtask performance. Two scenarios were investigated: car driving and manual assemblywork. Paper I was an inductive study where the visual demand model was used toexamine how the task, environment and operator characteristics influence the visualdemand involved in assembly work. Paper II dealt with the effect of the taskcharacteristic, e.g. precision, as determinants of visual demand on working posture andmovement paths in a laboratory study. Paper III investigated the influence of the taskand the environmental characteristics, i.e. time pressure, real motorway and interior cardesign as determinants of the visual demand on drivers visual behaviour and primarytask performance. Paper IV examined the influence of the environment, the task andoperator characteristics, i.e. time pressure, real motorway, interior car design, driversage and skill as determinants of the visual demand on a drivers visual behaviour andprimary task performance. Paper V studied how visual demand can be predicted usinga visualisation tool such as a computer manikin. Numerous methods have been used tohighlight the relation between visual demand and the behaviour produced by operators:an eye tracking system, motion tracking, observations, and interviews. Designing thestudies with high level of validity was a priority and the majority of the studied focusedon the subjects in their own environment, e.g. secondary task performance whilstdriving in motorway traffic and assembly work in an industrial plant. The followingvisual determinants of manual task performance were identified: degree of precisiondegree required in manual assembly, fine-tuned activity in manual assembly, location ofin-car controls, drivers age and experience. Vision analysis carried out with computermanikin software does not really facilitate detection and consideration of visualdemand, as it does not provide a method for analysing the visual determinants for aspecific task. Suggestions concerning the design of the vision module and a method forhow to use it are proposed. A further step will be to take into account psychomotortasks and mental load into account in order to evaluate visual demand, i.e. study theinfluence of cognition on motor activity as well as its effect on task and workplacedesign

Older drivers' visual search behaviour at intersections

Previous research has indicated that older drivers are more likely to be involved in collisions in complex traffic scenarios like intersections even if they are not more involved in accidents in general. Moreover, being more vulnerable, the older driver is generally at higher risk of sustaining an injury when involved in a traffic accident. Even though there may be many factors leading to the over-involvement of older drivers in intersection collisions it is clear that the visual capacity and the ability to observe may be one of the possible causes that is of high interest to understand further. The objective of the study is to identify to what degree the visual behaviour could explain older drivers' involvement in intersection accidents. A 20 km long route composed by intersections in rural and urban environment was selected to collect both driving and eye movement data. Two groups of drivers were compared, one group aged 35-55 years and one aged 75 and above. Apart from the driving data, neck flexibility measurement was performed. The results from the neck flexibility measurement showed a clear age effect, with the older drivers showing less neck flexibility. When it comes to visual behaviour data, a difference was also found concerning the area of interest the drivers looked at; while the older drivers looked more at lines and markings on the road to position themselves in the traffic, the younger drivers looked more at dynamic objects such as other cars representing a possible threat. The difference in the visual behaviour should be used to design safety systems for all drivers to support them when they drive through an intersection

Project presentation

SAFEWAY2SCHOOL is a European research project carried out by research institutes, universities and industry in order to enhance safety for children on their daily way to school. SAFEWAY2SCHOOL aims to design, develop, integrate and evaluate technologies for providing a holistic and safe transportation service for children, from their home door to the school door and vice versa, encompassing tools, services and training for all key actors in the relevant transportation chain. These include optimal route planning and rerouting for school buses to maximize safety, on-board safety applications (i.e. for speed control and seat belts), "intelligent" bus stops, effective warning and information systems for bus drivers, children, parents and the surrounding traffic; as well as training schemes for all actors. The project innovative systems, services and training schemes will be tested in 4 sites Europewide, including North (Sweden), Central (Austria), South (Italy) and Eastern (Poland) Europe; to evaluate their usability, efficiency, user acceptance and market viability; taking into account the very different children's transportation to/from school systems across the different European regions as well as key cultural and socio-economic aspects