Creating Affording Situations: Coaching through Animate Objects.

We explore the ways in which animate objects can be used to cue actions as part of coaching in Activities of Daily Living (ADL). In this case, changing the appearance or behavior of a physical object is intended to cue actions which are appropriate for a given context. The context is defined by the intention of the users, the state of the objects and the tasks for which these objects can be used. We present initial design prototypes and simple user trials which explore the impact of different cues on activity. It is shown that raising the handle of a jug, for example, not only cues the act of picking up the jug but also encourages use of the hand adjacent to the handle; that combinations of lights (on the objects) and auditory cues influence activity through reducing uncertainty; and that cueing can challenge pre-learned action sequences. We interpret these results in terms of the idea that the animate objects can be used to create affording situations, and discuss implications of this work to support relearning of ADL following brain damage or injury, such as might arise following a stroke.

Combining network analysis with Cognitive Work Analysis: insights into social organisational and cooperation analysis.

Cognitive Work Analysis (CWA) allows complex, sociotechnical systems to be explored in terms of their potential configurations. However, CWA does not explicitly analyse the manner in which person-to-person communication is performed in these configurations. Consequently, the combination of CWA with Social Network Analysis provides a means by which CWA output can be analysed to consider communication structure. The approach is illustrated through a case study of a military planning team. The case study shows how actor-to-actor and actor-to-function mapping can be analysed, in terms of centrality, to produce metrics of system structure under different operating conditions. PRACTITIONER SUMMARY: In this paper, a technique for building social network diagrams from CWA is demonstrated.The approach allows analysts to appreciate the potential impact of organisational structure on a command system.

The application of SHERPA (Systematic Human Error Reduction and Prediction Approach) in the development of compensatory cognitive rehabilitation strategies for stroke patients with left and right brain damage.

Approximately 33% of stroke patients have difficulty performing activities of daily living, often committing errors during the planning and execution of such activities. The objective of this study was to evaluate the ability of the human error identification (HEI) technique SHERPA (Systematic Human Error Reduction and Prediction Approach) to predict errors during the performance of daily activities in stroke patients with left and right hemisphere lesions. Using SHERPA we successfully predicted 36 of the 38 observed errors, with analysis indicating that the proportion of predicted and observed errors was similar for all sub-tasks and severity levels. HEI results were used to develop compensatory cognitive strategies that clinicians could employ to reduce or prevent errors from occurring. This study provides evidence for the reliability and validity of SHERPA in the design of cognitive rehabilitation strategies in stroke populations.

When tomorrow comes: A prospective risk assessment of a future artificial general intelligence-based uncrewed combat aerial vehicle system.

There are concerns that Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) could pose an existential threat to humanity; however, as AGI does not yet exist it is difficult to prospectively identify risks and develop requisite controls. We applied the Work Domain Analysis Broken Nodes (WDA-BN) and Event Analysis of Systemic Teamwork-Broken Links (EAST-BL) methods to identify potential risks in a future 'envisioned world' AGI-based uncrewed combat aerial vehicle system. The findings suggest five main categories of risk in this context: sub-optimal performance risks, goal alignment risks, super-intelligence risks, over-control risks, and enfeeblement risks. Two of these categories, goal alignment risks and super-intelligence risks, have not previously been encountered or dealt with in conventional safety management systems. Whereas most of the identified sub-optimal performance risks can be managed through existing defence design lifecycle processes, we propose that work is required to develop controls to manage the other risks identified. These include controls on AGI developers, controls within the AGI itself, and broader sociotechnical system controls.

Making ergonomics accountable: Reliability, validity and utility in ergonomics methods.

In this paper, we discuss the ways in which Neville Stanton has challenged himself, his research colleagues, PhD students, the many co-authors and contributors to his publications, and the entire Ergonomics community to determine what it means for there to be 'consistent standards for how [Ergonomics] methods are described and reported.' Only in this way, can it be possible to make claims about whether or not a method in Ergonomics is effective. Given that he is Chartered as both an Occupational Psychologist and an Ergonomist, it is not surprising that he has been concerned with the question of the reliability and validity of Ergonomics methods. In Occupational Psychology, psychometric and personnel selection methods are expected to exhibit acceptable levels of reliability, but this is an expectation which is still somewhat alien to Ergonomics. Neville's work has been instrumental in raising this issue and in providing approaches which can be used to critically evaluate the methods we use. We think that, despite his ground-breaking work, there is still much to do in the Ergonomics community to create the situation for which he has long argued.

DIMASS: A Delaunay-Inspired, Hybrid Approach to a Team of Agents Search Strategy.

This article describes an approach for multiagent search planning for a team of agents. A team of UAVs tasked to conduct a forest fire search was selected as the use case, although solutions are applicable to other domains. Fixed-path (e.g., parallel track) methods for multiagent search can produce predictable and structured paths, with the main limitation being poor management of agents' resources and limited adaptability (i.e., based on predefined geometric paths, e.g., parallel track, expanding square, etc.). On the other hand, pseudorandom methods allow agents to generate well-separated paths; but methods can be computationally expensive and can result in a lack of coordination of agents' activities. We present a hybrid solution that exploits the complementary strengths of fixed-pattern and pseudorandom methods, i.e., an approach that is resource-efficient, predictable, adaptable, and scalable. Our approach evolved from the Delaunay triangulation of systematically selected waypoints to allocate agents to explore a specific region while optimizing a given set of mission constraints. We implement our approach in a simulation environment, comparing the performance of the proposed algorithm with fixed-path and pseudorandom baselines. Results proved agents' resource utilization, predictability, scalability, and adaptability of the developed path. We also demonstrate the proposed algorithm's application on real UAVs.

A Digital Alternative to the TNO Stereo Test to Qualify Military Aircrew.

INTRODUCTION: Stereopsis is usually required in military aviators and may become increasingly important with reliance on newer technologies such as binocular Helmet-Mounted Displays (HMDs) and stereo displays. The current stereo test used to qualify UK military aircrew (TNO test) has many limitations. To address these limitations, two computer-based digital versions of a random dot stereogram (RDS) were developed: a static version (dRDS-S), and a version in which the dots appear to move dynamically within the depth plane (dRDS-D), both capable of measuring stereo acuity to threshold.METHODS: There were 41 participants who performed all 3 stereo tests, TNO and both digital dRDS tests, on two separate occasions.RESULTS: The best (lowest) mean stereo acuity threshold was measured with dRDS-S (33.79 arcseconds, range 12.64-173) and the worst mean stereo acuity thresholds were measured with the TNO test (91 arcseconds, range 60-240). Both dRDS tests were strongly correlated, but neither correlated with the TNO test. Both dRDS tests were more reliable, as indicated with tighter limits of agreement.DISCUSSION: With a large floor effect at 60 arcseconds, the TNO test was unable to characterize any finer degree of stereo acuity. Both dRDS tests demonstrated better test-retest reliability and addressed many of the limitations seen with the TNO test. The dRDS tests were not correlated with the TNO test, which suggests that the TNO test does not provide the accuracy or reliability for use as a meaningful aeromedical screening test. The dRDS tests will enable research to investigate the relationship between stereo acuity and operational performance.Posselt BN, Seemiller E, Winterbottom M, Baber C, Hadley S. A digital alternative to the TNO stereo test to qualify military aircrew. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2022; 93(12):846-854.

From ethnography to the EAST method: a tractable approach for representing distributed cognition in Air Traffic Control.

Command and control is a generic activity involving the exercise of authority over assigned resources, combined with planning, coordinating and controlling how those resources are used. The challenge for understanding this type of activity is that it is not often amenable to the conventional experimental/methodological approach. Command and control tends to be multi-faceted (so requires more than one method), is made up of interacting socio and technical elements (so requires a systemic approach) and exhibits aggregate behaviours that emerge from these interactions (so requires methods that go beyond reductionism). In these circumstances a distributed cognition approach is highly appropriate yet the existing ethnographic methods make it difficult to apply and, for non-specialist audiences, sometimes difficult to meaningfully interpret. The Event Analysis for Systemic Teamwork method is put forward as a means of working from a distributed cognition perspective but in a way that goes beyond ethnography. A worked example from Air Traffic Control is used to illustrate how the language of social science can be translated into the language of systems analysis. Statement of Relevance: Distributed cognition provides a highly appropriate conceptual response to complex work settings such as Air Traffic Control. This paper deals with how to realise those benefits in practice without recourse to problematic ethnographic techniques.

The effect of known decision support reliability on outcome quality and visual information foraging in joint decision making.

Decision support systems (DSSs) are being woven into human workflows from aviation to medicine. In this study, we examine decision quality and visual information foraging for DSSs with different known reliability levels. Thirty-six participants completed a financial fraud detection task, first unsupported and then supported by a DSS which highlighted important information sources. Participants were randomly allocated to four cohorts, being informed that the system's reliability was 100%, 90%, 80% or undisclosed. Results showed that only a DSS known to be 100% reliable resulted in participants systematically following its suggestions, increasing the percentage of correct classifications to a median of 100% while halving both, decision time and number of visually attended information sources. In all other conditions, the DSS had no effect on most visual sampling metrics, while decision quality of the human-DSS team was below the reliability level of the DSS. Knowledge of an even slightly unreliable system hence had a profound impact on joint decision making, with participants trusting their significantly worse performance more than the DSSs suggestions.

Designing Smart Objects to Support Affording Situations: Exploiting Affordance Through an Understanding of Forms of Engagement.

In this paper I consider how the concept of "affordance" has been adapted from the original writings of Gibson and applied to interaction design. I argue that a clear understanding of affordance shifts the goal of interaction design from one of solely focusing on either the physical object or the capabilities of the person, toward an understanding of interactivity. To do this, I develop the concept of Forms of Engagement, originally proposed to account for tool use. Finally, I extend this concept to interacting with modified tangible user interfaces, or "animate objects." These animate objects not only sense how they are being used, but also communicate with each other to develop a shared intent, and provide prompts and cues to encourage specific actions. In this way, the human-object-environment system creates affording situations in pursuit of shared intentions and goals. In order to determine when to provide prompts and cues, the objects need to have a model of how they ought to be used and what intention they are being used to achieve. Consequently, affordances become not only the means by which actions are encouraged but also the manner in which intentions are identified and agreed.

The effect of four user interface concepts on visual scan pattern similarity and information foraging in a complex decision making task.

User interface (UI) design can affect the quality of decision making, where decisions based on digitally presented content are commonly informed by visually sampling information through eye movements. Analysis of the resulting scan patterns - the order in which people visually attend to different regions of interest (ROIs) - gives an insight into information foraging strategies. In this study, we quantified scan pattern characteristics for participants engaging with conceptually different user interface designs. Four interfaces were modified along two dimensions relating to effort in accessing information: data presentation (either alpha-numerical data or colour blocks), and information access time (all information sources readily available or sequential revealing of information required). The aim of the study was to investigate whether a) people develop repeatable scan patterns and b) different UI concepts affect information foraging and task performance. Thirty-two participants (eight for each UI concept) were given the task to correctly classify 100 credit card transactions as normal or fraudulent based on nine transaction attributes. Attributes varied in their usefulness of predicting the correct outcome. Conventional and more recent (network analysis- and bioinformatics-based) eye tracking metrics were used to quantify visual search. Empirical findings were evaluated in context of random data and possible accuracy for theoretical decision making strategies. Results showed short repeating sequence fragments within longer scan patterns across participants and conditions, comprising a systematic and a random search component. The UI design concept showing alpha-numerical data in full view resulted in most complete data foraging, while the design concept showing colour blocks in full view resulted in the fastest task completion time. Decision accuracy was not significantly affected by UI design. Theoretical calculations showed that the difference in achievable accuracy between very complex and simple decision making strategies was small. We conclude that goal-directed search of familiar information results in repeatable scan pattern fragments (often corresponding to information sources considered particularly important), but no repeatable complete scan pattern. The underlying concept of the UI affects how visual search is performed, and a decision making strategy develops. This should be taken in consideration when designing for applied domains.

Assessing the physical loading of wearable computers.

Wearable computers enable workers to interact with computer equipment in situations where previously they were unable. Attaching a computer to the body though has an unknown physical effect. This paper reports a methodology for addressing this, by assessing postural effects and the effect of added weight. Using the example of arm-mounted computers (AMCs), the paper shows that adopting a posture to interact with an AMC generates fatiguing levels of stress and a load of 0.54 kg results in increased level of stress and increased rate of fatigue. The paper shows that, due to poor postures adopted when wearing and interacting with computers and the weight of the device attached to the body, one possible outcome for prolonged exposure is the development of musculoskeletal disorders.

Spontaneous bimanual independence during parallel tapping and sawing.

The performance of complex polyrhythms-rhythms where the left and right hand move at different rates-is usually the province of highly trained individuals. However, studies in which hand movement is guided haptically show that even novices can perform polyrhythms with no or only brief training. In this study, we investigated whether novices are able to tap with one hand by matching different rates of a metronome while sawing with the other hand. This experiment was based on the assumption that saw movement is controlled consistently at a predictable rate without the need for paying primary attention to it. It would follow that consciously matching different stipulated metronome rates with the other hand would result in the spontaneous performance of polyrhythms. Six experimental conditions were randomised: single handed tapping and sawing as well as four bimanual conditions with expected ratios of 1:1 (performed with and without matching a metronome) as well as 3:4 and 4:3 (performed matching a metronome). Results showed that participants executed the saw movement at a consistent cycle duration of 0.44 [0.20] s to 0.51 [0.19] s across single and bimanual conditions, with no significant effect of the condition on the cycle duration (p = 0.315). Similarly, free tapping was executed at a cycle duration of 0.48 [0.22] s. In the bimanual conditions, we found that for a ratio of 4:3 (4 taps against 3 sawing cycles per measure), the observed and predicted ratio of 0.75 were not significantly different (p = 0.369), supporting our hypothesis of the spontaneous adoption of polyrhythms. However, for a ratio of 3:4 (3 taps against 4 sawing cycles per measure), the observed and predicted ratio differed (p = 0.016), with a trend towards synchronisation. Our findings show that bimanual independence when performing complex polyrhythms can in principle be achieved if the movement of one hand can be performed without paying much-if any-attention to it. In this paradigm, small rhythmic arm movements are possibly driven by an intrinsic timing which leads to spontaneous convergence on a cycle duration of around 0.5 s, while the movement of the other hand can be controlled consciously to occur at desired rates.

Movement consistency during repetitive tool use action.

The consistency and repeatability of movement patterns has been of long-standing interest in locomotor biomechanics, but less well explored in other domains. Tool use is one of such a domain; while the complex dynamics of the human-tool-environment system have been approached from various angles, to date it remains unknown how the rhythmicity of repetitive tool-using action emerges. To examine whether the spontaneously adopted movement frequency is a variable susceptible to individual execution approaches or emerges as constant behaviour, we recorded sawing motion across a range of 14 experimental conditions using various manipulations. This was compared to free and pantomimed arm movements. We found that a mean (SD) sawing frequency of 2.0 (0.4) Hz was employed across experimental conditions. Most experimental conditions did not significantly affect the sawing frequency, signifying the robustness of this spontaneously emerging movement. Free horizontal arm translation and miming of sawing was performed at half the movement frequency with more than double the excursion distance, showing that not all arm movements spontaneously emerge at the observed sawing parameters. Observed movement frequencies across all conditions could be closely predicted from movement time reference data for generic arm movements found in the Methods Time Measurement literature, highlighting a generic biomechanical relationship between the time taken for a given distance travelled underlying the observed behaviour. We conclude that our findings lend support to the hypothesis that repetitive movements during tool use are executed according to generic and predictable musculoskeletal mechanics and constraints, albeit in the context of the general task (sawing) and environmental constraints such as friction, rather than being subject to task-specific control or individual cognitive schemata.

Workflows and individual differences during visually guided routine tasks in a road traffic management control room.

Road traffic control rooms rely on human operators to monitor and interact with information presented on multiple displays. Past studies have found inconsistent use of available visual information sources in such settings across different domains. In this study, we aimed to broaden the understanding of observer behaviour in control rooms by analysing a case study in road traffic control. We conducted a field study in a live road traffic control room where five operators responded to incidents while wearing a mobile eye tracker. Using qualitative and quantitative approaches, we investigated the operators' workflow using ergonomics methods and quantified visual information sampling. We found that individuals showed differing preferences for viewing modalities and weighting of task components, with a strong coupling between eye and head movement. For the quantitative analysis of the eye tracking data, we propose a number of metrics which may prove useful to compare visual sampling behaviour across domains in future.

Cognitive aspects of tool use.

Tool use has traditionally been viewed as primarily a physical activity, with little consideration given to the cognitive aspects that might be involved. In this paper, a new approach to considering tool use in terms of Forms of Engagement is presented and discussed. This approach combines notions of schema from cognitive psychology with the idea of task-specific devices to explain psychomotor aspects of using tools. From the perspective of Forms of Engagement, various aspects of craftwork and skilled tool use are considered.

Macrocognition in Day-To-Day Police Incident Response.

Using examples of incidents that UK Police Forces deal with on a day-to-day basis, we explore the macrocognition of incident response. Central to our analysis is the idea that information relating to an incident is translated from negotiated to structured and actionable meaning, in terms of the Community of Practice of the personnel involved in incident response. Through participant observation of, and interviews with, police personnel, we explore the manner in which these different types of meaning shift over the course of incident. In this way, macrocognition relates to gathering, framing, and sharing information through the collaborative sensemaking practices of those involved. This involves two cycles of macrocognition, which we see as 'informal' (driven by information gathering as the Community of Practice negotiates and actions meaning) and 'formal' (driven by the need to assign resources to the response and the need to record incident details). The examples illustrate that these cycles are often intertwined, as are the different forms of meaning, in situation-specific ways that provide adaptive response to the demands of the incident.

Modelling elderly cardiac patients decision making using Cognitive Work Analysis: identifying requirements for patient decision aids.

BACKGROUND: Patients make various healthcare decisions on a daily basis. Such day-to-day decision making can have significant consequences on their own health, treatment, care, and costs. While decision aids (DAs) provide effective support in enhancing patient's decision making, to date there have been few studies examining patient's decision making process or exploring how the understanding of such decision processes can aid in extracting requirements for the design of DAs. OBJECTIVE: This paper applies Cognitive Work Analysis (CWA) to analyse patient's decision making in order to inform requirements for supporting self-care decision making. METHOD: This study uses focus groups to elicit information from elderly cardiovascular disease (CVD) patients concerning a range of decision situations they face on a daily basis. Specifically, the focus groups addressed issues related to the decision making of CVD in terms of medication compliance, pain, diet and exercise. RESULTS: The results of these focus groups are used to develop high level views using CWA. CWA framework decomposes the complex decision making problem to inform three approaches to DA design: one design based on high level requirements; one based on a normative model of decision-making for patients; and the third based on a range of heuristics that patients seem to use. CONCLUSION: CWA helps in extracting and synthesising decision making from different perspectives: decision processes, work organisation, patient competencies and strategies used in decision making. As decision making can be influenced by human behaviour like skills, rules and knowledge, it is argued that patients require support to different types of decision making. This paper also provides insights for designers in using CWA framework for the design of effective DAs to support patients in self-management.