The 'invisible gorilla' during pedestrian-AV interaction: Effects of secondary tasks on pedestrians' reaction to eHMIs.

In road traffic, mental overload often leads to a failure to notice new and distinctive stimuli. Such phenomenon is known as 'inattentional blindness'. Safe and efficient interaction between automated vehicles (AVs) and pedestrians is expected to rely heavily on external human-machine interfaces (eHMIs), a tool AVs are equipped with to communicate their intentions to pedestrians. This study seeks to explore the phenomenon of 'inattentional blindness' in the context of pedestrian-AV interactions. Specifically, the aim is to understand the effects of a warning eHMI on pedestrians' crossing decisions when they are engaged in a secondary task. In an experiment study with videos of pedestrian crossing scenarios filmed from the perspective of the crossing pedestrian, participants had to decide the latest point at which they would be willing to cross the road in front of an AV with an eHMI vs. an AV without an eHMI. Participants were also asked to predict the future behavior of the AV. 125 female and 9 male participants aged between 18 and 25 completed the experiment and a follow-up questionnaire. It was found that the presence of a warning eHMI on AVs contributes to a clearer understanding of pedestrians' inferences about the intention of AVs and helps deter late and dangerous crossing decisions made by pedestrians. However, the eHMI fail to help pedestrians avoid such decisions when they face a high mental workload induced by secondary task engagement.

Creativity, Critical Thinking, Communication, and Collaboration: Assessment, Certification, and Promotion of 21st Century Skills for the Future of Work and Education.

This article addresses educational challenges posed by the future of work, examining "21st century skills", their conception, assessment, and valorization. It focuses in particular on key soft skill competencies known as the "4Cs": creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, and communication. In a section on each C, we provide an overview of assessment at the level of individual performance, before focusing on the less common assessment of systemic support for the development of the 4Cs that can be measured at the institutional level (i.e., in schools, universities, professional training programs, etc.). We then present the process of official assessment and certification known as "labelization", suggesting it as a solution both for establishing a publicly trusted assessment of the 4Cs and for promoting their cultural valorization. Next, two variations of the "International Institute for Competency Development's 21st Century Skills Framework" are presented. The first of these comprehensive systems allows for the assessment and labelization of the extent to which development of the 4Cs is supported by a formal educational program or institution. The second assesses informal educational or training experiences, such as playing a game. We discuss the overlap between the 4Cs and the challenges of teaching and institutionalizing them, both of which may be assisted by adopting a dynamic interactionist model of the 4Cs-playfully entitled "Crea-Critical-Collab-ication"-for pedagogical and policy-promotion purposes. We conclude by briefly discussing opportunities presented by future research and new technologies such as artificial intelligence and virtual reality.

What Does Creativity Mean in Safety-Critical Environments?

Safety in high-risk and time-pressured situations relies on people's ability to generate new and appropriate solutions to solve unforeseen problems for which no procedures or rules are available. This type of ability is regularly associated with the concept of creativity. While psychology researchers have studied, for decades, how creative ideas and solutions are generated, this basic research has not made it into the more applied fields of human factors and neuroergonomics. Building on the research on the psychology and the neuropsychology of creativity, this paper will (1) address the question of what creativity means and what are its ties with problem solving and decision-making; (2) focus on the evidence of the creative processes, the underlying mechanisms, and the multiple psychological dimensions of the creative behavior involved in unexpected events in extreme environments such as Apollo 13 mission, United Airline Flight 232, and Mann Gulch wildfire; and (3) explore the implications for future research in the domains of neuroergonomics and differential psychology.

Sleep and sleepiness during an ultra long-range flight operation between the Middle East and United States.

This study provides a practical example of fatigue risk management in aviation. The sleep and sleepiness of 44 pilots (11 trips × 4 pilot crew) working an ultra long-range (ULR; flight time >16 h) round-trip operation between Doha and Houston was assessed. Sleep was assessed using activity monitors and self-reported sleep diaries. Mean Karolinska Sleepiness Scores (KSS) for climb and descent did not exceed 5 ("neither alert nor sleepy"). Mean daily sleep duration was maintained above 6.3h throughout the operation. During in-flight rest periods, 98% of pilots obtained sleep and sleepiness was subsequently reduced. On layover (49.5h) crew were advised to sleep on Doha or Universal Co-ordinated Time (UTC), but 64% slept during the local (social) night time. Pilots originating from regions with a siesta culture were more likely to nap and made particularly effective use of their daytime in-flight rest periods. The results indicate that the operation is well designed from a fatigue management perspective.

Perceived fatigue for short- and long-haul flights: a survey of 739 airline pilots.

BACKGROUND: Fatigue-related incidents in aviation may be self-reported by pilots in confidential systems. The aim of this study was to clarify what fatigue means to pilots on short- and long-haul flights (SHF and LHF, respectively). METHODS: Questionnaires were distributed to pilots through four airlines. Questions concerned the perceived causes of fatigue, its signs and symptoms in the reporting pilot and observed in others, as well as the strategies used to minimize its impact. RESULTS: Of 3,436 questionnaires distributed, 739 (21.5%) were returned. For LHF, fatigue was seen as mainly due to night flights (59%) and jet lag (45%). For SHF, fatigue was caused by prolonged duty periods (multi-segment flights over a sequence of 4 to 5 d) (53%) and successive early wake-ups (41%). Self-reported manifestations of fatigue in 60% of LHF pilots and 49% of SHF pilots included reduction in alertness and attention, and a lack of concentration. Signs observed in other crewmembers included an increase in response times and small mistakes (calculation, interpretation). When pilots were tired, all the flying tasks seemed to be more difficult than usual. In both LHF and SHF, rest and sleep management were the primary strategies used to cope with fatigue. Analysis showed that duty time is a major predictor of fatigue, but that it cannot be considered independently from the other contributory factors. CONCLUSION: For both LHF and SHF, pilots reported acute fatigue related to sleep deprivation, due mainly to work schedules: night flights, jet-lag, and successive early wake-ups. These causal factors could easily be assessed in investigation of accidents and incidents.

Electronic pilot-activity monitor: a countermeasure against fatigue on long-haul flights.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have shown frequent reductions in aircrew alertness during long-haul flights, even during the critical descent phase. Recommended countermeasures include alternation of crew activity with rest, such as cockpit napping. However, a method of monitoring the alertness level of the active and napping pilots should be considered. METHODS: The Electronic Pilot-Activity Monitor (EPAM) continuously monitors the activity of the crew (activity mode) and limits nap duration (timer mode) to prevent sleep inertia effects. The EPAM is currently being validated during actual long-haul flights. To date, we have studied 14 round trips Brussels-New York-Brussels (i.e., 28 flights). Physiological parameters, including electroencephalogram, electrooculogram, and heart rate, were recorded continuously to evaluate the ability of EPAM to detect low alertness phases. RESULTS: We present preliminary results showing that the EPAM can detect some microsleep periods during the flight. However, some microsleeps occurred while the pilot was active. In the timer mode, the EPAM was able to limit sleep duration but some deep sleep was observed. DISCUSSION: These results suggest that additional measures (e.g., eye closure duration) should be included to improve the detection of drowsy periods. In addition, the timer mode should be improved to prevent deep sleep in order to prevent subsequent sleep inertia.