Conspicuity index -looking for a possible objective measurement of visibility taking context into account

Abstract An emergency exit sign can be more or less visible. Something has to do with the sign itself: with bright colors it might be more visible than with faint colors. But also the context plays a role: alone on a white wall it will most likely become more visible than on a wall full of brightly colored posters. There is also a subjective side to the matter; you will more likely see the sign in an emergency situation than in an everyday situation. In the field of Information Design there is a need for an objective and easily administered measurement of conspicuity. Today a time measurement using visual search is possible, but often difficult and unpractical to use in real life. In a small pilot study I have tested a new method of conspicuity index, a measurement method where the subject starts by looking at the target whose conspicuity is to be measured, then gradually looks away while attending to the target in the corner of his or her eyes until detection no longer is possible. The angle where detection ends is the conspicuity angle. Previous studies show a high correlation between the conspicuity index and traditional search time measurements. Results from this study show good accordance with intuitive impression of saliency

Harmonised Portrayal of e-Navigation-related Information

A Guideline on the Harmonised Portrayal of e-Navigation-related Information was recently completed by IALA. The purpose of this Guideline is to provide guidance regarding the presentation and display of e-Navigation-related information. The basic, over-riding premise of this Guideline is that shipborne and shore-based equipment, systems, and services should portray e-Navigation-related information to all users (both onboard and ashore) in a consistent manner. However, since e-Navigation is an evolutionary process, this goal-based guideline describes over-arching objectives to be achieved, while freedom to innovate is left to both developers and users. An explanation is provided about key aspects of the Guideline. In particular, a website has been established to show examples of useful ways to portray e-Navigation information for current as well as some future types of equipment, systems, and services

“Seafarers should be navigating by the stars”: barriers to usability in ship bridge design

Navigating a ship is a complex task that requires close interaction between navigators and technology available on the ship’s bridge. The quality of this interaction depends on human and organisational factors, but also on technological design. This is recognized by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) through the SOLAS V/15 regulation that requires human factor considerations in bridge design. The objective of this paper is to investigate how tensions between the main stakeholders’ interests and perspectives in ship bridge design may influence the achievement of the goals set forth in the SOLAS V/15 regulation. This objective is explored through a qualitative study in the maritime industry, involving seafarers, shipowners, and equipment manufacturers. We find suboptimal ship bridge design usability to be connected to structural characteristics of the maritime sector, where different aims and perspectives between core stakeholders impairs alignment with respect to conception of work-as-done in the operative environment. We also find that profitability is a major driver for the blunt end stakeholders, for whom the relation between usability and profitability is perceived as a trade-off rather than of synergy. We conclude that there is a need to develop processes, enablers, and management tools to (1) update the understanding of the professional competence needed in the technology dense work environment on ship bridges today; (2) strengthen the maritime stakeholders’ awareness of the advantages of human-centred design (HCD) which are both operator well-being and system performance; (3) enable implementation of HCD into existing design and development processes; (4) provide metrics for business cases enabling informed ergonomic investment decisions.publishedVersio

”If this is the way to drive a ship – just anyone could do it”: 3D nautical charts. About creating acceptance and building standards for VR within the maritime domain

This paper is presenting a short overview of a human factors project aiming to improve decision-making in navigation by removing the need to conduct mental rotations. This is done by presenting the map in an egocentric view, here called a 3D map. Laboratory experiments have shown clear advantages for the 3D map compared with traditional exocentric map displays. Finally a short description of ongoing work is presented

Measuring Visual Saliency.

A new method of measuring visual saliency has been introduced by the Dutch psychologist Alexander Wertheim. By looking at the target that is to be measured, and moving the gaze point radially out from the target until the target can no longer be detected, an angle between the target and the point of no detection can be measured. This angle can be used as a measurement of the conspicuity of the target. In the study presented here, this "conspicuity index" shows good correlations to intuitive impressions of target saliency and also shows small variance. The findings confirm earlier studies by the inventor of the method and suggest that this could be a valuable tool for the visual literacy community

Interaction Between Manned and Autonomous Ships: Automation Transparency

Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS) is on the research agenda of several countries. In Norway a 120 TEU autonomous container feeder is currently being built. Hopes are attached to safety as well as costs and efficiency benefits. The explicit assumption is that with no humans on the bridge “human error” will go away. However, the challenges will be found in the interaction between MASS and humans on the bridges of other, ships, both SOLAS and non-SOLAS vessels. An unanswered question is whether a MASS should explicitly signal being in “self-drive” mode or if it should be unmarked, just as any other COLREG following ship? This discussion paper argues for the first alternative. Arguments are also given for automation transparency, allowing other seafarers to “look into the mind” of the autonomous ship, to see if they are detected and what is the present intentions of the MASS

Is COLREG enough? Interaction between manned and unmanned ships

In recent years, there has been a growing interest for autonomous unmanned shipping. Both from research and industry. Between 2013-2015 the EU-project MUNIN investigated the feasibility of trans-ocean unmanned shipping. While trans-ocean drones could be expected to seldom encounter other ships, short-sea shipping would mean intense interaction with other manned SOLAS and non-SOLAS vessels. This rises some serious questions. How can we expect watch keepers on other SOLAS vessels, fishing boats and inexperienced leisure boat skippers to react when they meet an unmanned vessel? Will they behave in the same way as with manned ships today? Is there a need for the unmanned vessel to communicate intentions in different ways than today? Is there a need for humans to know that they are detected by the autonomous vessel, or is enough that they know the drone will adhere to COLREG? Is there a need to designate separate fairways for unmanned vessels? This is a discussion paper pointing to pending research needs relating to interaction between manned and autonomous vessels