SpringerBriefs in applied sciences and technology, Dec 31, 2022
A central challenge in designing stable control systems is to identify the states that must be fe... more A central challenge in designing stable control systems is to identify the states that must be fed back to enable successful control. The quality of control (including safety) depends on our ability to visualize the state space underlying the functional dynamics of the work being managed. Building concrete visualizations is both a useful tool for knowledge elicitation with domain experts to discover the meaningful functional work constraints that determine this state space, and an essential part of interface design to support safe work in complex systems.
An alternative to conventional models that treat decisions as open-loop independent choices is pr... more An alternative to conventional models that treat decisions as open-loop independent choices is presented. The alterative model is based on observations of work situations such as healthcare, where decisionmaking is more typically a closed-loop, dynamic, problem-solving process. The article suggests five important distinctions between the processes assumed by conventional models and the reality of decisionmaking in practice. It is suggested that the logic of abduction in the form of an adaptive, muddling through process is more consistent with the realities of practice in domains such as healthcare. The practical implication is that the design goal should not be to improve consistency with normative models of rationality, but to tune the representations guiding the muddling process to increase functional perspicacity.
Contents: Preface. Part I Aviation Psychology: Aviation psychology: optimizing human and system p... more Contents: Preface. Part I Aviation Psychology: Aviation psychology: optimizing human and system performance, Michael A.Vidulich, Pamela S. Tsang and John M. Flach Applying systems thinking to aviation psychology, Nancy G. Leveson An earthbound perspective on orientation illusions experienced in aerospace flight, James R. Lackner. Part II Next Generation Air Space and Air Traffic Control: NASA NextGen flight deck research: a database of research areas and results, Kathleen L. Mosier and Alec Munc Flight deck models of workload and multitasking: an overview of validation, Christopher D. Wickens and Angelia Sebok Clarifying cognitive complexity and controller strategies in disturbed inbound peak air traffic control operations, Marian J. Schuver-van Blanken Ecological flight deck design-the world behind the glass, Max Mulder Risk perception in ecological information systems, Jan Comans, Clark Borst, M.M. van Paassen and Max Mulder. Part III Pilot Factors for Air and Ground-Based Operations: Implications of text chat for air crew communication and coordination, Nancy J. Cooke, Christopher W. Myers and Prashanth Rajivan Human-centered automation as effective work design, Amy R. Pritchett and Karen M. Feigh Enhancing military helicopter pilot assistant systems through resource adaptive dialogue management, Felix Maiwald and Axel Schulte Individual pilot factors predict runway incursion outcomes, Kathleen Van Benthem and Chris M. Herdman. Part IV Training and Selection: Synthetic task environments and the three-body problem, John M. Flach, Winston Bennett, Jr. and Scott M. Galster Enhancing management of complex and unforeseen situations among pilots: new trends in cognitive-adaptation training, Marie-Pierre Fornette, Marthe Bourgy, Jean-Yves Jollans, Corinne Roumes and Francoise Darses Distribution of attention as a function of time: a different approach to measure a specific aspect of situation awareness, Katrin Meierfrankenfeld, Werner Gress and Bettina Vorbach. Index.
Ecological Interface Design (EID) was originally developed in the context of process control, but... more Ecological Interface Design (EID) was originally developed in the context of process control, but has been extended into many domains where technology has resulted in both changing work demands and increased opportunities for improved interface applications. This paper gives an overview of the application of EID to the control of vehicle locomotion, either from within the vehicle, as driver or pilot, or from the outside, as operator or (air traffic) controller. It discusses lessons learned from application of EID for the vehicle locomotion control task, and focuses on how the methodology can be applied to this domain. Specific issues identified are that the planning and control of a vehicle simultaneously spans multiple time scales, and that the interface must be designed considering the format in which the control input is defined. Also, due to the extensive standardization of instrumentation and training certification, changes introduced by the new displays must initially be additional to the existing displays. Chosen representations must also be shown in a format that matches the current instrumentation and the directly observable outside world. Index Terms-Ecological Interface Design (EID), human-machine systems, vehicle control. I. INTRODUCTION A PPROXIMATELY 25 years ago, Ecological Interface Design (EID) was introduced with publications illustrating its application [1] and its theoretical underpinnings [2]. Over the intervening years the framework has been further elaborated in subsequent textbooks [3]-[5]. The term "ecological" in EID was inspired by James J. Gibson's work on the coupling between perception and action [6] and its implication for control of locomotion. Although not articulated in the formal language of control theory, the essence of Gibson's theory of direct perception was that the information feedback available for the control of action was much richer than had been previously thought. Inspired by the early intuitions of Langewiesche [7] about the heuristics that pilots use to achieve safe landings, Gibson suggested that structure in optical flow fields (which he termed optical invariants) directly specified key dimensions (i.e., constraints on state variables) required for skillful control of action: Locomotion and manipulation are neither triggered nor commanded but controlled. They are constrained, guided, or steered, and only in this sense are they ruled or governed. And they are controlled not by the brain but by information, that is, by
... The work begun by Gibson (eg, Gibson & Crooks, 1938; Gibson, Olum, & ... more ... The work begun by Gibson (eg, Gibson & Crooks, 1938; Gibson, Olum, & Rosenblatt, 1955) continues and prospers. ... Hosman & van der Vaart, 1981; van der Vaart & Hosman, 1989), and the Aviation Research Laboratory at the University of Ilinois where Gavan Lintern and ...
SpringerBriefs in applied sciences and technology, Dec 31, 2022
A central challenge in designing stable control systems is to identify the states that must be fe... more A central challenge in designing stable control systems is to identify the states that must be fed back to enable successful control. The quality of control (including safety) depends on our ability to visualize the state space underlying the functional dynamics of the work being managed. Building concrete visualizations is both a useful tool for knowledge elicitation with domain experts to discover the meaningful functional work constraints that determine this state space, and an essential part of interface design to support safe work in complex systems.
An alternative to conventional models that treat decisions as open-loop independent choices is pr... more An alternative to conventional models that treat decisions as open-loop independent choices is presented. The alterative model is based on observations of work situations such as healthcare, where decisionmaking is more typically a closed-loop, dynamic, problem-solving process. The article suggests five important distinctions between the processes assumed by conventional models and the reality of decisionmaking in practice. It is suggested that the logic of abduction in the form of an adaptive, muddling through process is more consistent with the realities of practice in domains such as healthcare. The practical implication is that the design goal should not be to improve consistency with normative models of rationality, but to tune the representations guiding the muddling process to increase functional perspicacity.
Contents: Preface. Part I Aviation Psychology: Aviation psychology: optimizing human and system p... more Contents: Preface. Part I Aviation Psychology: Aviation psychology: optimizing human and system performance, Michael A.Vidulich, Pamela S. Tsang and John M. Flach Applying systems thinking to aviation psychology, Nancy G. Leveson An earthbound perspective on orientation illusions experienced in aerospace flight, James R. Lackner. Part II Next Generation Air Space and Air Traffic Control: NASA NextGen flight deck research: a database of research areas and results, Kathleen L. Mosier and Alec Munc Flight deck models of workload and multitasking: an overview of validation, Christopher D. Wickens and Angelia Sebok Clarifying cognitive complexity and controller strategies in disturbed inbound peak air traffic control operations, Marian J. Schuver-van Blanken Ecological flight deck design-the world behind the glass, Max Mulder Risk perception in ecological information systems, Jan Comans, Clark Borst, M.M. van Paassen and Max Mulder. Part III Pilot Factors for Air and Ground-Based Operations: Implications of text chat for air crew communication and coordination, Nancy J. Cooke, Christopher W. Myers and Prashanth Rajivan Human-centered automation as effective work design, Amy R. Pritchett and Karen M. Feigh Enhancing military helicopter pilot assistant systems through resource adaptive dialogue management, Felix Maiwald and Axel Schulte Individual pilot factors predict runway incursion outcomes, Kathleen Van Benthem and Chris M. Herdman. Part IV Training and Selection: Synthetic task environments and the three-body problem, John M. Flach, Winston Bennett, Jr. and Scott M. Galster Enhancing management of complex and unforeseen situations among pilots: new trends in cognitive-adaptation training, Marie-Pierre Fornette, Marthe Bourgy, Jean-Yves Jollans, Corinne Roumes and Francoise Darses Distribution of attention as a function of time: a different approach to measure a specific aspect of situation awareness, Katrin Meierfrankenfeld, Werner Gress and Bettina Vorbach. Index.
Ecological Interface Design (EID) was originally developed in the context of process control, but... more Ecological Interface Design (EID) was originally developed in the context of process control, but has been extended into many domains where technology has resulted in both changing work demands and increased opportunities for improved interface applications. This paper gives an overview of the application of EID to the control of vehicle locomotion, either from within the vehicle, as driver or pilot, or from the outside, as operator or (air traffic) controller. It discusses lessons learned from application of EID for the vehicle locomotion control task, and focuses on how the methodology can be applied to this domain. Specific issues identified are that the planning and control of a vehicle simultaneously spans multiple time scales, and that the interface must be designed considering the format in which the control input is defined. Also, due to the extensive standardization of instrumentation and training certification, changes introduced by the new displays must initially be additional to the existing displays. Chosen representations must also be shown in a format that matches the current instrumentation and the directly observable outside world. Index Terms-Ecological Interface Design (EID), human-machine systems, vehicle control. I. INTRODUCTION A PPROXIMATELY 25 years ago, Ecological Interface Design (EID) was introduced with publications illustrating its application [1] and its theoretical underpinnings [2]. Over the intervening years the framework has been further elaborated in subsequent textbooks [3]-[5]. The term "ecological" in EID was inspired by James J. Gibson's work on the coupling between perception and action [6] and its implication for control of locomotion. Although not articulated in the formal language of control theory, the essence of Gibson's theory of direct perception was that the information feedback available for the control of action was much richer than had been previously thought. Inspired by the early intuitions of Langewiesche [7] about the heuristics that pilots use to achieve safe landings, Gibson suggested that structure in optical flow fields (which he termed optical invariants) directly specified key dimensions (i.e., constraints on state variables) required for skillful control of action: Locomotion and manipulation are neither triggered nor commanded but controlled. They are constrained, guided, or steered, and only in this sense are they ruled or governed. And they are controlled not by the brain but by information, that is, by
... The work begun by Gibson (eg, Gibson & Crooks, 1938; Gibson, Olum, & ... more ... The work begun by Gibson (eg, Gibson & Crooks, 1938; Gibson, Olum, & Rosenblatt, 1955) continues and prospers. ... Hosman & van der Vaart, 1981; van der Vaart & Hosman, 1989), and the Aviation Research Laboratory at the University of Ilinois where Gavan Lintern and ...
This paper details the creation and use of a massive (32,000+ messages) artificially constructed ... more This paper details the creation and use of a massive (32,000+ messages) artificially constructed 'Twitter' microblog stream for a regional emergency preparedness functional exercise. By combining microblog conversion, manual production, and a control set, we created a web-based information stream providing valid, misleading, and irrelevant information to public information officers (PIOs) representing hospitals, fire departments, the local Red Cross, and city and county government officials. PIOs searched, monitored, and (through conventional channels) verified potentially actionable information that could then be redistributed through a personalized screen name. Our case study of a key PIO reveals several capabilities that social media can support, including event detection, the distribution of information between functions within the emergency response community, and the distribution of messages to the public. We suggest that training as well as information filtering tools are necessary to realize the potential of social media in both emergencies and exercises.
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