GazeForm: Dynamic Gaze-adaptive Touch Surface for Eyes-free Interaction in Airliner Cockpits

An increasing number of domains, including aeronautics, are adopting touchscreens. However, several drawbacks limit their operational use, in particular, eyes-free interaction is almost impossible making it difficult to perform other tasks simultaneously. We introduce GazeForm, an adaptive touch interface with shape-changing capacity that offers an adapted interaction modality according to gaze direction. When the user’s eyes are focused on interaction, the surface is flat and the system acts as a touchscreen. When eyes are directed towards another area, physical knobs emerge from the surface. Compared to a touch only mode, experimental results showed that GazeForm generated a lower subjective mental workload and a higher efficiency of execution (20% faster). Furthermore, GazeForm required less visual attention and participants were able to concentrate more on a secondary monitoring task. Complementary interviews with pilots led us to explore timings and levels of control for using gaze to adapt modality

Object-oriented behavior grasping from a perception/action perspective

Object-oriented behavior requires the fine interplay between perception and action. Two visuomotor cortical channels are typically implicated in grasping. One is described as specifically sensitive to extrinsic object parameters (e.g., location). The other is described as specifically sensitive to intrinsic object parameters (e.g., shape). According to Jeannerod (1981), the first, dorsal, channel directs the arm transport component of a grasp, while the second, ventral, channel directs the object manipulation component of a grasp. The role of both types of object information in planning a grasp is examined. Specifically, questions directed at the degree of planning by each component, their independence from one another, as well as their mode of planning (serial vs. parallel) are addressed. Two experiments employed a precueing paradigm to manipulate the type of information available prior to movement onset. Variables examined were the location of an object (left/right), its shape (sphere/dowel), as well as its distance from the hand. The primary measure of interest was reaction time to a go signal. The kinematics of the ensuing movements were also analyzed. Sizable reaction time costs were found when either type of information was precued ambiguously or incorrectly. Such costs illustrate that both extrinsic and intrinsic object parameters are critical for planning a grasp, supporting the active participation of both components in planning. The overall pattern of reaction time results implies that the arm transport channel is responsible for \u27sketching out\u27 an overall plan of action upon which the plan for object manipulation \u27rides.\u27 The absence of an interaction between extrinsic and intrinsic parameters, furthermore, suggests that the two channels are functionally independent. The additive effects of extrinsic and intrinsic parameters, finally, is evidence for a serial mode of planning by the two channels. The kinematics of the movements support findings from the literature, and suggest that movements are not time-scaled variations of a prototypical movement. They also reveal that the arm transport component of the movement is affected by both extrinsic and intrinsic object properties; the object manipulation component, on the other hand, appears only sensitive to intrinsic object properties

Concurrent Task Demands in the Cockpit: Challenges and Vulnerabilities in Routine Flight Operations

This report, using illustrations from the taxi-out phase of flight, is part of a larger study of the cognitive demands of concurrent task management. We also discuss potential countermeasure

Planning Reaches by Evaluating Stored Postures

This article describes a theory of the computations underlying the selection of coordinated motion patterns, especially in reaching tasks. The central idea is that when a spatial target is selected as an object to be reached, stored postures are evaluated for the contributions they can make to the task. Weights are assigned to the stored postures, and a single target posture is found by taking a weighted sum of the stored postures. Movement is achieved by reducing the distance between the starting angle and target angle of each joint. The model explains compensation for reduced joint mobility, tool use, practice effects, performance errors, and aspects of movement kinematics. Extensions of the model can account for anticipation and coarticulation effects, movement through via points, and hierarchical control of series of movements. The goal of this research is a unified theory of the planning and control of physical action. Such a theory, as several authors have noted (Jeannerod, in press; Rosenbaum, 1991; Wing, 1993), has been lacking. Instead, specialized models have been designed to account for data from different tasks. The sentimen

A capacity index to replace flawed incident‐based metrics for worker safety

The shortcomings of incident-based metrics for worker safety such as total recordable incident frequency rate (TRIFR) are well documented. In particular, a low TRIFR is no assurance against legal liability. There is considerable overlap between the literature on safety as the presence of capacities to make things go well, and jurisprudence in labour and workplace safety law on employer due diligence. In this article, the authors propose an index that merges the two, measuring the capacities to acquire and maintain safety knowledge, to understand the nature of operations, to resource for safety, to respond to risks, to demonstrate engagement and compliance, and for assurance.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Control & Simulatio