Managing workload in human–robot interaction: A review of empirical studies

Working with artificial agents is a challenging endeavor, often imposing high levels of workload on human operators who work within these socio-technical systems. We seek to understand these workload demands through examining the literature in major content areas of human–robot interaction. As research on HRI continues to explore a host of issues with operator workload, there is a need to synthesize the extant literature to determine its current state and to guide future research. Within HRI socio-technical systems, we reviewed the empirical literature on operator information processing and action execution. Using multiple resource theory (MRT; Wickens, 2002) as a guiding framework, we organized this review by the operator perceptual and responding demands which are routinely manipulated in HRI studies. We also reviewed the utility of different interventions for reducing the strain on the perceptual system (e.g., multimodal displays) and responses (e.g., automation). Our synthesis of the literature demonstrates that much is known about how to decrease operator workload, but there are specific gaps in knowledge due to study operations and methodology. This work furthers our understanding of workload in complex environments such as those found when working with robots. Principles and propositions are provided for those interested in decreasing operator workload in applied settings and also for future research.     

A mixed integer programming (MIP) model for evaluating navigation and task planning of human–robot interactions (HRI)

Intelligent Service Robotics - Exercise of robotics in many applications brings in concerns of human–robot interaction. This paper offers a mathematical model-based mission planning tool for...     

Formally verifying human–automation interaction as part of a system model: limitations and tradeoffs

Both the human factors engineering (HFE) and formal methods communities are concerned with improving the design of safety-critical systems. This work discusses a modeling effort that leveraged methods from both fields to perform formal verification of human–automation interaction with a programmable device. This effort utilizes a system architecture composed of independent models of the human mission, human task behavior, human-device interface, device automation, and operational environment. The goals of this architecture were to allow HFE practitioners to perform formal verifications of realistic systems that depend on human–automation interaction in a reasonable amount of time using representative models, intuitive modeling constructs, and decoupled models of system components that could be easily changed to support multiple analyses. This framework was instantiated using a patient controlled analgesia pump in a two phased process where models in each phase were verified using a common set of specifications. The first phase focused on the mission, human-device interface, and device automation; and included a simple, unconstrained human task behavior model. The second phase replaced the unconstrained task model with one representing normative pump programming behavior. Because models produced in the first phase were too large for the model checker to verify, a number of model revisions were undertaken that affected the goals of the effort. While the use of human task behavior models in the second phase helped mitigate model complexity, verification time increased. Additional modeling tools and technological developments are necessary for model checking to become a more usable technique for HFE.     

A human behavior model of multi-agent attention based on actor–observer switching for asynchronous motion tasks with limited field of view

This paper presents an overt visual attention approach for multi-agent systems and asynchronous motion tasks with limited field of view based on human behavior. In a first step, results from a study on human temporal attention switching during a formation task are presented. Three temporally switching human behaviors (observer, actor, idler) are identified and characterized towards distributions of attention foci. In a second step, based on these results, a behavior switching attention strategy is proposed. The strategy is evaluated in simulations of various formation task scenarios illustrating the effectiveness of the approach.     

Coupled solid (FVM)–fluid (DSMC) simulation of micro-nozzle with unstructured-grid

The flow field and temperature distributions of free molecular micro-electro-thermal resist jet (FMMR) were studied resorting to DSMC–FVM coupled method. Direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method is the most useful tool to simulate the flow field of FMMR and unstructured grid is suitable for the flow simulation in a complicated region with tilted wall surface. DSMC code based on unstructured grid system was developed and the result was compared with that of structured grid and analytical solution to validate the reliability of the developed code. The DSMC method was then used to simulate the fluid flow in the micro-nozzle (Kn > 0.01) and the temperature distribution in the nozzle wall was obtained by the finite volume method (FVM). The Dirichlet–Neumann method was used to couple the wall heat flux and temperature between flow field and solid area. The effect of different income pressure was studied in detail and the results showed that the temperature of solid area changed drastically at different income pressure, so the commonly-adopted method of pre-setting boundary temperature before simulation was unreasonable.     

Principles of transparency for autonomous vehicles: first results of an experiment with an augmented reality human–machine interface

Cognition, Technology & Work - Highly automated driving allows the driver to temporarily delegate the driving task to the autonomous vehicle. The challenge is to define the information that...     

Toward Better Understanding of Task Difficulty during Physicians’ Interaction with Electronic Health Record System (EHRs)

ABSTRACT

The goal of this study was to assess the relationship of task difficulty and mental effort with performance during physicians’ interaction with electronic health records (EHRs). A total of 38 physicians were asked to identify abnormal results and take follow-up action to “close the loop” on care delivery. Task difficulty was quantified via task-flow strategies and computer mouse-click patterns. Mental effort was quantified using eye movements based on changes in pupillary dilations (task evoked pupillary response or TEPR) and blink rate. Performance was quantified based on commission errors (error vs. no-error). Results indicated that physicians had different task-flow strategies; however, with improved awareness of the patient status, they exhibited an optimal task-flow strategy. Overall, performance was related to task-flow strategies, computer mouse-click patterns, and blink rate, indicating that physicians had lower task-difficulty and experienced lower mental effort with improved awareness of patient follow-up status. This is an important finding demonstrating that task-flows are a dominant predictor of physician performance when comparing between EHR designs. On the contrary, mouse-click patterns and blink rate are both useful predictors of physician performance when assessment was done within an EHR.     

Erratum to “Minimum cost flows with minimum quantities” [Information Processing Letters 111 (11) (2011) 533–537]

This note identifies an error in the fully polynomial-time approximation scheme on series-parallel graphs presented in our paper “Minimum cost flows with minimum quantities” which appeared as [Sven O. Krumke, Clemens Thielen, Minimum cost flows with minimum quantities, Information Processing Letters 111 (11) (2011) 533–537]. In fact, we prove inapproximability of the problem on series-parallel graphs and of a related problem, thereby identifying a similar error in a related paper.     

Contemporary intellectual structure of CSCL research (2006–2013): a co-citation network analysis with an education focus

This present study endeavors to discover the scholarly communication structure in the CSCL knowledge domain. To explore the intellectual structure of contemporary literature of CSCL research from 2006 to 2013, over a thousand research papers indexed in the leading journal publications and conference proceedings were retrieved from WOS. Accordingly, this paper adopted a series of methods to analyze these research articles from macro to micro level, including document co-citation analysis (DCA), exploratory factor analysis (EFA), and social network analysis (SNA). As a result, a total of 7,552 and 2,180 co-citation ties were obtained from 403 to 66 source papers, respectively. In addition, six intellectual subfields within the CSCL literature were extracted, namely: (1) representation, discourse & pattern, (2) factors influencing CSCL, (3) intervention and comparison, (4) critical reasoning, (5) process of social construction, and (6) design and modeling of CSCL. Central documents and publications within contemporary CSCL research were identified and presented in the undirected co-citation networks from both macro and micro perspectives. Furthermore, the dissemination of underlying subfields and pivotal documents serving as a boundary-spanning role were discussed. This is the very first attempt to integrate the bibliographical method, statistical analysis, and visualization techniques in relation to contemporary CSCL research. Further discussion and research directions for future CSCL study are provided.     

Yield estimation of winter wheat in the North China Plain using the remote-sensing–photosynthesis–yield estimation for crops (RS–P–YEC) model

The accurate prediction of crop yield is of great help for grain policy making. By assuming a horizontally homogeneous, vertically laminar structure and introducing a multilayer-two-big-leaf model, we develop a radiative-transfer equation for winter-wheat canopy and a model, named the remote-sensing–photosynthesis–yield estimation for crops (RS–P–YEC) model, for winter-wheat yield estimation. The yield is calculated by multiplying the net primary productivity (NPP) by the harvest index (HI). In this study, the yield of winter wheat in the North China Plain in 2006 is estimated using the RS–P–YEC model. The simulated yield is consistent with observations from 17 agro-meteorological stations, and the mean relative error is 4.6%. The results demonstrate that the RS–P–YEC model is a useful tool for winter-wheat yield estimation in the North China Plain with widely available remotely sensed imageries.     

Simulation of high-resolution mid-infrared (3–5 μm) images using an atmosphere radiative transfer analytic model

Future mid-infrared satellite missions exploring the Earth will feature advanced high spatial resolution and directional imaging instruments. Consistent end-to-end simulation of them is an important task, and is sometimes the only way to adapt and optimize a sensor and its observation conditions, to choose and test algorithms for data processing, to estimate errors and to evaluate the capabilities of the whole sensor system. However, contrary to other wavelength ranges, the mid-infrared is highly dependent on atmospheric scattering and emission. Therefore, simulation of atmospheric radiative transfer for remote sensing images will remain a challenging task, because few studies on this topic include a full treatment of atmospheric effects. With a given resolution and directional capabilities of the instrument, and combining with land surface temperature and emissivity data obtained from airborne imagery, TOA (top of atmosphere) radiance images have been simulated pixel by pixel, coupling the atmospheric radiative transfer analytic model extended from MODTRAN4 and the atmospheric adjacency effect model derived from point spread function (for atmospheric directional and adjacency effect). In this way, all major scattering and emission contributions of atmosphere were considered. Based on different atmospheric conditions and geometrical relations between the scene, the Sun and the sensor, simulated TOA radiance images were produced according to simulated workflows, 10-m spatial resolution and a spectral range of 3.5–3.9 μm. Analysis of results indicates that the analytic model and adjacency effect model are more suitable for mid-infrared imaging simulation than other existing models. This paper describes the principle of the two models, the applied methodology, the set-up of the actual image simulations, and then discusses the final results obtained.