No full-text available
To read the full-text of this research,
you can request a copy directly from the authors.
Evaluation of Human-System Interfaces with Different Information Organization Using an Eye Tracker
Abstract
The increasing use of digitalized displays in the instrumentation & control systems of nuclear power plants has brought new issues related to human-computer interaction, especially under emergency circumstances that are known to be very stressful. This paper studies how interfaces with different information organization (functional layout vs. process layout) influence human-computer interaction behaviors as emergency occurs in terms of search efficiency, difficulty of information abstraction, and workload by using the eye tracking technique on a simulated platform. The result shows that the average blink rate and average blink numbers at the two levels of information organization were different significantly. This may indicate that the functional design was superior to the process design in user workload. The results did not prove the superiority of the functional interface design to the process one in search efficiency and difficulty of information abstraction, since no significant difference was found in the number of fixations and fixations duration mean values.
... For best effectiveness, FIR should have approached unity, but for faulty indicators, FIRs were much smaller than unity reflecting remarkably poor performance (Ha et al., 2016). Chen and Li (2013) used eye-tracking to evaluate how interfaces with different information organizations (process layout vs. functional layout) influence human-computer interaction during emergencies in terms of difficulty of information abstraction, search efficiency, and workload. Even though they did not find significant differences in all evaluation measures, workload (as measured by pupil diameter) was more during interaction with the process layout compared to the functional layout. ...
With advancements in technology and sophistication, the role of humans in the process industries has transformed from predominantly manual operations to one primarily involving monitoring, diagnosis, and prognosis. These tasks are cognitively challenging as they involve the acquisition and processing of large amounts of information. Human errors during such operations can be catastrophic. In this chapter, we discuss the role of human factors in understanding the interaction between humans and other elements of the work system. We also discuss a framework to systematically account for human errors. Subsequently, we provide a detailed discussion on how human failures can be quantified by using human reliability assessment techniques. Finally, given the changing nature of the roles of individuals, owing to digitalization, we discuss the role of physiological measurements in guiding the application of human factors principles for evaluating and enhancing human performance.
Physiological measures are often used to assess the mental state of human operators in supervisory process control tasks. However, the diversity of research approaches creates a heterogeneous landscape of empirical evidence. To map existing evidence and provide guidance to researchers and practitioners, this paper systematically reviews 109 empirical studies that report relationships between peripheral nervous system measures and mental state dimensions (e.g. mental workload, mental fatigue, stress, and vigilance) of interest. Ocular and electrocardiac measures were the most prominent measures across application fields. Most studies sought to validate such measures for reliable assessments of cognitive task demands and time on task, with measures of pupil size receiving the most empirical support. In comparison, less research examined the utility of physiological measures in predicting human task performance. This approach is discussed as an opportunity to focus on operators' individual response to cognitive task demands and to advance the state of research.
Accurate assessment of a user's mental workload will be critical for developing systems that manage user attention (interruptions) in the user interface. Empirical evidence suggests that an interruption is much less disruptive when it occurs during a period of lower mental workload. To provide a measure of mental workload for interactive tasks, we investigated the use of task-evoked pupillary response. Results show that a more difficult task demands longer processing time, induces higher subjective ratings of mental workload, and reliably evokes greater pupillary response at salient subtasks. We discuss the findings and their implications for the design of an attention manager.
Suggests that the knowledge representation of a decision maker in control of a complex system can be structured in several levels of abstraction in a functional hierarchy. The role of such an abstraction hierarchy in supervisory systems control is reviewed, and the difference between causal and intentional systems and formal games in terms of the role of an abstraction hierarchy in the related decision strategies is described. This relationship is discussed with reference to the classical psychological problem-solving research of O. Selz (1922), who conceptualized problem-solving procedures determined by intellectual personality, features of the problem, and the S's intention. Implications for design of decision support systems are discussed. It is argued that an explicit description of the functional properties of the system to be controlled in terms of an abstraction hierarchy is necessary for a consistent design of data bases and display formats for decision support systems. It is also contended that the role of the abstraction hierarchy in reasoning must be considered when planning experiments on human decision making. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Few systems operate completely independent of humans. Thus any study of system risk or reliability requires analysis of the potential for failure arising from human activities in operating and managing this. Human reliability analysis (HRA) grew up in the 1960s with the intention of modelling the likelihood and consequences of human error. Initially, it treated the humans as any other component in the system. They could fail and the consequences of their failure were examined by tracing the effects through a fault tree. Thus to conduct a HRA one had to assess the probability of various operator errors, be they errors of omission or commission. First generation HRA may have used some sophistication in accomplishing this, but in essence that is all they did. Over the years, methods have been developed that recognise human potential to recover from a failure, on the one hand, and the effects of stress and organisational culture on the likelihood of possible errors, on the other. But no method has yet been developed which incorporates all our understanding of individual, team and organisational behaviour into overall assessments of system risk or reliability.
An approach to improve human reliability is introduced in this chapter. Major methods to analyze human reliability have been
reviewed in Chapter 7. Chapter 8 presents human factors-related activities to design a human-machine interface (HMI), especially
for nuclear power plant (NPP) applications. Human factors engineering (HFE) is strictly applied in the nuclear industry. Designing
a good HMI enhances human reliability and prevents human errors, as well as helping with training and proceduralization. An
HFE process to design an HMI for a safety critical system that requires high reliability for operators consists of three steps:
analysis, design, and verification & validation (V&V).
In this investigation, eight Air Force air traffic controllers (ATCs) performed three scenarios on TRACON (Terminal Radar Approach Control), a computer-based air traffic control (ATC) simulation. Two scenarios were used each with three levels of difficulty. One scenario varied traffic volume by manipulating the number of aircraft to be handled and the second scenario varied traffic complexity by manipulating arriving to departing flight ratios, pilot skill and mixture of aircraft types. A third scenario, overload, required subjects to handle a larger number of aircraft in a limited amount of time. The effects of the manipulations on controller workload were assessed using performance, subjective (TLX), and physiological (EEG, eye blink, heart rate, respiration, saccade) measures. Significant main effects of difficulty level were found for TRACON performance, TLX, eye blink, respiration and EEG measures. Only the EEG was associated with main effects for the type of traffic. The results provide support for the differential sensitivity of a variety of workload measures in complex tasks, underscore the importance of traffic complexity in ATC workload, and support the utility of TRACON as a tool for studies of ATC workload.
Ecological interface design (EID) is a theoretical framework for designing human-computer interfaces for complex sociotechnical systems. Its primary aim is to support knowledge workers in adapting to change and novelty. This literature review shows that in situations requiring problem solving, EID improves performance when compared with current design approaches in industry. EID has been applied to industry-scale problems in a broad variety of application domains (e.g., process control, aviation, computer network management, software engineering, medicine, command and control, and information retrieval) and has consistently led to the identification of new information requirements. An experimental evaluation of EID using a full-fidelity simulator with professional workers has yet to be conducted, although some are planned. Several significant challenges remain as obstacles to the confident use of EID in industry. Promising paths for addressing these outstanding issues are identified. Actual or potential applications of this research include improving the safety and productivity of complex sociotechnical systems.
Display Design for AP1000 Nuclear Power Plant: FBTA Method vs. Traditional Method
- X J Wu
- Q Gao
- F Song
- X L Dong
- Z Z Li
Real-time empirical mental workload measurement in digitalized main control room of nuclear power plant. Bachelors’ thesis
- Y Wang
Human Reliability Analysis: A review & critique
- S Adihikari
- C Bayley
- T Bedford
- J Busby
- A Cliffe
- D Geeta
- M Eid
- S French
- R Keshvala
- S Pollard
- E Soane
- D Tracy
- S Wu
Reliability and Risk Issues in Large Scale Safety-critical Digital Control Systems
- J H Kim
- P H Seong
- J.H. Kim