Advances in Human Factors of Transportation

For a successful market introduction of Level 3 Automated Driving Systems (L3 ADS), a careful evaluation of Human-Machine Interfaces (HMIs) is necessary. This paper describes an empirical evaluation of a checklist that has been previously developed for the use in heuristic expert assessments, demonstrating that an ADS HMI that meets the guidelines as defined in the checklist scores higher in several measures of usability and acceptance than an HMI that does not meet the checklist requirements. Therefore, N = 57 participants completed two 15-min drives with an L3 ADS in a driving simulator. They experienced two variations of a L3 ADS HMI that differed in the degree of complying with the checklist. Inferential statistics showed that acceptance and usability measures differed substantially between the two experimental HMIs. Behavioral observations of interaction performance also demonstrate that non-compliance with the checklist items lowers the usability of the L3 system.

This paper presents a novel method for the design of metaphor-based driver-vehicle interaction with two main objectives. First, to create a structured procedure for generating metaphors in the context of automotive Human Machine Interaction (HMI). Second, to facilitate the development of new HMI concepts based on the identified metaphors, i.e., to optimize the overall design process. To build the foundation for developing the novel method, research concerning metaphor-generating procedures has been investigated in the context of interaction design. Furthermore, general design methodologies are examined to complement the foundation of the method. These analyses unveil a deficiency regarding methodologies for the design of metaphor-based driver-vehicle interaction concepts. Additionally, it has been possible to assess how different approaches to design and development may complement each other for building the novel method.

Our technological world is developing rapidly, and with it, the roles of automation are becoming increasingly safety critical. Automated vehicles that require human input when a design, geographical or capability boundary has been met require effective communication between driver and vehicle to ensure system safety. This paper explores the role of vocal communication in guiding visual gaze during the task of handing over control to a driver after being ‘out-of-the-loop’ for a set amount of time. This is with the intention of increasing driver awareness of the environment, and explore whether this method is effective in guiding this process. This study found that vocal guidance is highly correlated with visual gaze towards the visual information streams that display information relevant to a vocal cue, indicating that designers could consider the vocal approach alongside head-up interface aides as a means of raising situation awareness during transitions of control.

There is not yet sufficient knowledge on how people want to be driven in highly automated vehicles. In the present study, three different driving styles - dynamic, comfortable and everyday driving - are investigated in a highway scenario to better understand people’s preferences regarding driving styles. 22 subjects experienced variations of lane change manoeuvres with two varying characteristics: duration and initiation time of the lane change manoeuvres. The more dynamic a driving style was, the shorter those two variables became. Results show that subjects prefer a more defensive driving style. The comfortable driving style caused less perceived discomfort and higher perceived safety over the whole test track. Interestingly, not even driving fun is positively influenced by a more offensive way of highly-automated driving. Later initiation times and shorter durations of lane change manoeuvres lead to significantly worse assessments of the driving style. These results deliver recommendations for driving style design.

Thousands of people die each year due to motor vehicle crashes in the US. Research has found that an overwhelming majority of severe motor vehicle crashes occur due to human error. Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) are designed to support drivers with information and added vehicle control in critical situations. However, successful implementation of these technologies requires drivers to accept them, spend money to include them in vehicles and use them while driving. This study investigated the utility of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to explain driver acceptance of ADAS using a driving simulator study. Thirty-seven participants were given a 10-min. driving experience with a simulated driver assistance system. After the drive, they responded to an acceptance survey that measured different constructs of TAM. The results confirm that TAM constructs can significantly predict drivers’ willingness to use an ADAS, explaining more than 68% (Adj. R2) of the variability.

At automation level 5 as defined by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), a driver will not be in the loop even in a complex driving environment featuring among other challenges, the presence of vehicles with automation levels ranging from 1 (no automation) to 5 (fully automated). This paper defines the safety and ride quality requirements that a fully automated vehicle should meet when operating in a mixed traffic environment featuring vehicles of various automation levels and proposes a Bayesian AI-based driver algorithm as a solution. Design advances that can potentially overcome the safety and ride quality issues are described. Microscopic level data sourced from driving simulator studies are used in applications. Finally, conclusions are presented on the abilities of the Bayesian AI-based driver to meet safety and ride quality criteria while operating in driving environment characterized by uncertainties. The Bayesian AI-based driver is likely to enhance consumer and safety regulator acceptance.

Autonomous vehicle technology is introducing new capabilities and challenges to the transportation system. Along with its inclusion in the on-road transportation, industries are also adapting this technology for ground vehicles to increase the efficiency and safety of material transport at their facilities. Similar to the issues concerning on-road autonomous vehicle and road-user communication, the implementation of autonomous ground vehicles in industrial settings also requires ways for the vehicles to communicate with operators and people nearby. This study created videos of a simulated autonomous industrial vehicle equipped with different types of communicating features. An online survey collected responses (n = 1008) testing twelve external features for people nearby and ten internal features for operators. The findings reveal that a great deal of training is required for people to understand the features based on colored lights. Redundant features and the inclusion of clear texts and audible messages would facilitate comprehending a vehicle’s intended action.

To ensure road safety, automated vehicles (AVs) should be able to act and react to vulnerable road users (VRUs). External human-machine interfaces (e-HMIs) may allow AVs and VRUs to communicate effectively. We investigated the effects of various light signals presented by a light bar placed on the test vehicle’s roof (i.e. e-HMI). In addition, the driver was visible or the car appeared driverless by using a seat suit that covered the driver (Wizard-of-Oz design). A total of 173 random pedestrians passing by were interviewed. Participants felt significantly safer during the interaction with the vehicle when a driver was visible, while they evaluated the presented light signals as only partially trustworthy and unintuitive to understand. However, participants evaluated the application of light signals as e-HMIs for AVs as generally useful.

Current production cycle cars offer a wide range of driver assistance features spanning from Advanced Driver Assistance Systems to more established systems such as wing mirrors. All these features allow an increasing amount of adaptation enabling the driver to tailor all them to his or her requirements. However, drivers’ usage of and attitude towards these features as well as their possible adaptations are largely unexplored and, as a consequence, not well understood. We present an exploratory survey on this topic and apply an inclusive design approach in order to accommodate the whole range of diversity in our population. The results indicate a low usage rate of driver assistance features as well as their possible adaptations. However, results suggest a high appreciation for a potential smart adaptation of driver assistance features.

Due to age-related functional declines and changes in mobility patterns, older drivers struggle with complex traffic situations such as intersections. Innovative driver assistance systems could provide support for this group. One assistance approach addresses older drivers’ tendency to process multiple information successively (serially) rather than simultaneously (parallel) by providing prior information about complex traffic situations. Therefore, we evaluated a contact-analogue head-up display informing drivers about the right-of-way regulation and structure of approaching intersections. Using the newly developed Surrogate Complexity Method, we examined the effects of presenting accurate and inaccurate prior information on the accuracy and speed of perceiving traffic situations in 26 older (65–85 years) and 26 younger (25–45 years) drivers. Prior information aided drivers from both age groups in identifying more relevant aspects of the intersections without increasing response time. However, experiencing system failures (inaccurate information) did offset this positive effect for the study’s duration, particularly for older drivers.

Rapidly developing Autonomous Vehicle (AV) technology has potential to provide solutions to some of the aging population challenges, such as social isolation resulting from an inability to be independently mobile. However for AVs success, users’ acceptance is essential. Fifteen participants (M 70 years) participated in an autonomous driving simulator trial with voice-based CAV status feedback in a decision-making scenario – whether to pick up a friend on the way. The within-subject conditions/journeys were: Audio feedback (Audio)/Pick-Up; Audio/No-Pick-Up; No-Audio/Pick-Up. Additionally, the effect of feedback during different external journey conditions was also considered, resulting in two between-subjects conditions – day and night travel. Participants physiological, cognitive and affective measures show greater situational awareness and workload ratings in the No-Audio/Pick-Up condition with increased Post-trial trust rating and overall higher positive affect. These results indicate that the greatest concentration was required in the no-sound condition, suggesting that sound/multimodal feedback improved ease of operation and journey experience.

In the way of smoothing driver interaction with highly automated vehicles, we designed an immersive (VR + serious game) training program with a focus on improving drivers’ mental model. Then, we tackled the usability flaws and upgraded the preliminary serious game (PSG) to usability-improved serious game (USG). Three groups of participants-no-training, PSG and USG- were tested to explore the effects of immersive training on drivers performance and experiences in highly automated driving. The results showed that both training programs significantly improved driving performance and resulted in faster takeover time (TOT), longer time-to-collision (TTC), and fewer number of the collision. Moreover, the participants in training groups reported less erratic acceptance and more calibrated trust compared to the control group. Although improving usability in USG led to better flow experience (enjoyment and engagement) and lower cognitive load during the learning process, it did not contribute significantly to training transferability.

In the United States, pedestrians aged ≤14 suffer the highest percentage of motor vehicle collisions leading to injuries and fatalities. In part to reduce motor-vehicle related crashes, transportation researchers are pursuing the implementation of automated vehicles. Vehicle automation will eventually remove human control from the vehicle, but this may also remove interpersonal communication between pedestrians and human drivers. Therefore, many studies have investigated pedestrians’ choice of features on autonomous vehicles (AVs) to facilitate communication of vehicle intention. The inclusion of child populations in these studies has been rare, however. This study investigated pedestrians’ understandability of the external features on autonomous vehicles, considering different vehicle sizes and physics (speed and distance), and included both children and adults. The results revealed that children relied entirely on the communicating features of AVs to make their judgement on their safety, thereby adopted a higher risk strategy than their adult counterparts.

As fully autonomous - SAE level 5 - vehicles approach commercialisation, there is need to design and test user interfaces specifically for such use. However, testing in real environments is currently limited or, in many cases, impossible. In this paper, as a solution, we present a dedicated simulator for fully autonomous vehicles. First, we outline the design requirements for this simulator. Inclusive design principles were used to accommodate a large range of diversity in our population. It can thus be used by individuals with visual, auditory and certain physical and cognitive impairments. Second, we describe the capabilities of the simulator in terms of human-robot interaction technologies. We aim to assess both performance and non-performance characteristics of the resulting systems and how they can be integrated in the transportation experience. Third, we collate the knowledge obtained during this project to provide a deeper understanding of human factors in operating fully autonomous vehicles. We hope these results provide a basis for further research and improve the experience of users.

Deceleration lanes are designed to improve traffic operations of interchanges to ensure safety conditions during diverging maneuvers. Nevertheless, highway diverge areas are often characterized by high crash rates and poor operations, demonstrating that their efficiency and safety need further research.The main objective of this study is to analyze driving performance on deceleration lanes; therefore, two deceleration lanes of an existing Italian highway have been studied, collecting data from drivers who drove an instrumented vehicle along a selected route.The results demonstrated a substantial difference between drivers’ maneuvers from those adopted by most guidelines and confirmed findings of previous research developed with different modes. Such driving performance caused significant interference with through traffic that, in turn, caused subsequent issues in operating and traffic safety conditions.The results of this study are quite promising, especially since they corroborate findings of previous studies developed by the same authors as part of a wider, long-term research.

The aim of this presentation is (1) to define the skills necessary to control the driving of an autonomous vehicle; (2) skills needed to tackle the errors and failures of an autonomous vehicle and (3) to propose the operationalization of these skills. The view on driving skills decrease is built on the theoretical hierarchical model of driving behavior “GDE” – Goals for Driver Education model”. This can be used as the theoretical basis for measuring the decline in driving skills. The model is then put together with knowledge about human behavior and its changes in the context of automation and autonomous mobility. This definition and measurement suggestion is the first step in the long run of tackling the issue of reducing driving skills in the context of autonomous driving. Increase in automation promises a lot of benefits but on the other side, it also brings a decline in human ability to drive. It is a well-known finding of cognitive psychology that not using skills may cause forgetting and gradual loss of that ability or skill. Therefore, there have been some concerns connected with excessive automation in various areas of human lives for some time. But the topic of the automation and the pitfalls associated with it is not a new issue. For example, Bainbridge a long time ago drew attention to possible problems. Automation limits gaining experiences that can be needed when the control is needed to be passed back to the human operator. Even autopilot monitoring itself is based on the skills acquired by operators from experience with manual control, and future generations of operators who only gain experience from overseeing automats and autopilots will no longer have such. The model, which will be presented takes into account all above-mentioned aspects of driving in the automation era.

Automation in the road transport system is coming faster than expected being influencing and shaping the future of mobility. However, very few is known about the impact of automatic driving on traffic and how drivers will accept, use, trust and interact in traffic when driving a vehicle with a certain level of automation. Additionally, most of the potential users have unrealistic representations of autonomous vehicles, the driver’s role in automation or the impacts of full automation on the road transport system. Aiming at better understanding the drivers’ behavior when dealing with automated driving, this paper addresses the following issues based on a state of the art on automated driving: drivers’ preferences for the automation levels across different categories of drivers; limits of the technology; needs for changes in traffic laws, as well as licensing and training; driver’s promptness to resume the vehicle control following a long period of autonomous driving.

To better understand the effects of distracted driving on crash causation, forward roadway glance durations need to be carefully examined. Secondary tasks that impose high cognitive load lead to spillover effects that are moderated by the duration of the forward roadway glance within an alternation sequence involving both, in-vehicle and on-road glances. Spillover effects diminish the hazard anticipation ability of drivers. When alternating glances in a time series, the probability of detecting a spillover is invisible and the hidden state depends on the amount of time that has elapsed since the secondary task was initiated in the current state which is in contrast with the hidden Markov theory, where there is a constant probability of changing state given spillover detection in the state up to that time. No research estimates the probability of spillover detection in a time series with an explicit glance duration. In the current effort, we apply a semi-hidden Markov model where secondary task severity is used as an observation to infer hidden state and relax the assumption of constant state duration. Based on the reliable accuracy of the task itself, and the proposed model, different sequences of secondary task during various time window were tested for spillover detection. With a threshold of 50%, different forward roadway glance durations are required in each sequence associated with different types of secondary tasks.

This paper aims to present a new approach to the GDL system to be applied in Abu Dhabi. On contrary to existing GDL systems, the proposed system will feature driving experience as the main factor to new drivers in the emirate; which will determine their eligibility to attain a full driving license. The paper will present descriptive statistical analysis which helped in concluding that drivers experience has a higher significant relation to the probability of being involved in accidents, when compared

According to Ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH), Government of India, 84% of road accidents in 2016 occurred due to driver’s fault. Mind wandering, an internal source of driver distraction has been a latent and less researched factor for road accidents. This necessitates the requirement to study the influence of mind wandering during driving in greater detail to improve driver and road safety. Among various vehicle parameters, vehicle speed is considered a significant parameter in determining the probability of accidents. This study investigated the influence of vehicular speed on mind wandering in high perceptual simulated driving. This study assessed the variability of speed and frequency of mind wandering during two-speed conditions: 40 mph and 70 mph. Results indicated greater variability in speed during mind wandering for both speed conditions. The frequency of mind wandering at 70 mph and 40 mph condition was 22.5% and 26% respectively. Participants response to questionnaire revealed driving environment and personal matters to be major contributors for mind wandering.

Risky driving has been one among the major causes of accidents on road. Motivation behind the study was to identify if emotional intelligence influences impetuous driving in highly congested roads. Volunteers answered a 4-point online survey of questions sampled from Indian license test, driving skill and behavior questionnaires. Cronbach alpha was acceptably high validating the questions. Spearman correlation values indicated a strong correlation between driving hours and driving skill and behavior. K-means clustering was used to cluster the subjects into 4 categories based on driving skill and driving behavior scores. The cluster with highest number of subjects consisted of people who drive every day with high risky driving scores. The results suggest that people who drive everyday have poor emotional intelligence which impedes a safe driving. The study proposes that educating drivers with emotional regulation could help in safer roads.

The ergonomic quality of a tram driver’s cab is essential to ensure the physical well-being of the drivers and the general attractiveness of the workplace. We investigated the ergonomic quality of the cabs of two different trams in a field study during real operation. The results show that the experienced physical strain differs significantly between the two trams. A video analysis relates this to different posture and movement patterns. The main factor for these differences is the position of the main control panel, which needs to comply with visibility requirements according to DIN 5566. However, our study shows that an ergonomic workplace cannot be accomplished by only pursuing isolated factors, instead the interaction of all relevant factors has to be considered.

This paper focuses on an interview and observational study of two major change programmes, designed to transform workforce safety across Great Britain’s railways. The implications of the pace of change and the challenges of user-influenced design are considered in the context of a railway system where there are rapidly evolving technologies and need to consider the impact of co-operative work systems and the skills workers will need to engage with them. The study shows how things have changed over time since the programmes were first introduced, identifying the factors that have influenced this, such as a focus on a continuous improvement culture. Further research directions are proposed, including the need to identify the tools to help predict how future interventions in the change programmes might manifest themselves, e.g. the effects of new technology introduction, or factors outside of the organisation’s control such as Government policy change.

It is unrealistic to expect rail passengers to experience a comfortable journey while travelling in crowded trains. Given that passenger behaviour is one of the contributing factors of crowding, understanding and promoting changes in their behaviour would help moderate overcrowding. Therefore, this study aims to develop strategies to encourage passenger behaviour change. Focusing particularly on the provision of train occupancy information, Cognitive Work Analysis (CWA) is applied to gain a systematic understanding about constraints of the behaviour in the rail system environment. Participant observations, staff interview, and online survey data were used to develop an Abstraction Hierarchy (AH), which was validated with two rail subject-matter experts. The output enhance our understanding about passenger behaviour while travelling in crowded conditions, and provide insights about how rail service providers could better assist passengers’ decision making to inform real behaviour change. The AH provides the foundation for how to reduce crowding by supporting passengers’ decision making so they can select less crowded trains or carriages.

Light Rail Vehicle (LRV) driver ability to drive is checked through a device called a deadman. It requires the driver to activate the device periodically to monitor the level of vigilance and to prevent the safety system from triggering the emergency brake. Different tests have been done to evaluate how tram drivers use the device in more or less demanding conditions. The relation between the environment and the frequency of button push is investigated. The current level of workload is analyzed. After the introduction of a new approach including the activation of other controls as an input for the deadman device, the impact on workload and safety are analyzed. Introduction of contactless technology is finally investigated as future improvement of the system.

Here, we aim to investigate the relationship between the braking operations used to stop a train at a station and the errors in the train’s stopping position. Hence, using driving performance data, a logistic regression analysis was conducted. This analysis revealed that the train stopping-position errors at stations were associated with the standard deviation of the sum of brake notches, the mean of the additional brake notches, and the duration of driving experience. Drivers with a larger dispersion of brake notches in the individual were more prone to cause stopping-position errors at stations. Further, drivers who frequently used additional brake notches were more likely to cause stopping-position errors at stations. Furthermore, operators with more driving experience were less likely to incur stopping-position errors.

Bicycling is an increasingly popular activity, but safely sharing the road with motorists presents challenges. This study explores two factors that may contribute to negative interactions on Virginia roadway: insufficient understanding of cycling-specific laws and differential hazard perception for cyclists and motorists. Surveyed motorists reported not knowing bicycle-related laws and demonstrated some misunderstanding that was concerning. The results unexpectedly indicate that motorists rate potential road hazards as riskier to cyclists than cyclists rate the same hazards. This suggests that motorists recognize the vulnerability of cyclists on the roadway. But, our findings also highlight that motorist do not actively monitor for the same hazards as cyclists. A lack of similar hazard awareness could be leading to the regular close calls cyclists are reporting. It may also be this lack of fundamental knowledge that contributes to motorist frustration during cyclist encounters.

This paper investigates the effective minimum size for cutting out the edge of the intersection for reducing the mental stress of the pedestrian appearing from an intersection, by the experiment using the electrodermal activity measuring method and the virtual reality technology. 30 college students as the participants were experienced the unlimited long virtual passage where the intersections would be appearing regularly and continuously, through a head mounted display. The width of the passage was set at two sizes, 1,600 mm and 2,000 mm. The result is that the mental stress for the crossing pedestrian could be reduce by applying a cutting out of more than 1,000 mm to the corner of the intersection. According to these results, it was suggested that cutting out the corner of the intersection of about 1,000 mm would give a certain effect on the worry-free passage design.

The automotive industry is steadily moving towards fully autonomous vehicles, and it is becoming important to understand attitudes towards them. This study is an aspect of the www.ukautodrive.com project with Jaguar-Land Rover, RDM Automotive, and The University of Warwick’s Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG). Uniquely, we used a prototype fully autonomous vehicle, and were interested in pedestrian attitudes towards this vehicle manoeuvring in close proximity. Using virtual reality (VR) cameras, we filmed 18 manoeuvring scenarios and presented them using VR equipment. Participants answered four short rating-scale questions after each exposure, and self-reported less trust and safety when the vehicle was faster and closer. This work has implications both for real-world autonomous vehicles, and for further use of VR technology. That the VR environments seemed sufficiently convincing to evoke consistent responses from volunteers represents a considerable opportunity across a variety of experimental domains, and can improve further with advances in this technology.

Traffic crashes in suburban school zones pose a serious safety concern due to a higher presence of school-age pedestrians and cyclists as well as potential speeding issues. A study that investigated speed selection and driver behavior in school zones was carried out using two populations from different topographical and cultural settings: Puerto Rico and Massachusetts. A school zone from Puerto Rico was recreated in driver simulation scenarios and local drivers who are familiar with the environment were used as subjects. The Puerto Rico school simulation scenarios were replicated with subjects from Massachusetts to analyze the impact of drivers’ familiarity on the school-roadway environment. Twenty-four scenarios were built with pedestrians, on-street parked vehicles, and traffic flow used as simulation variables in the experiment. Results are presented in terms of speed behavior, reaction to the presence of pedestrians, speed compliance, and mean reduction in speeds for both familiar and unfamiliar drivers.

The aim of this driving simulator study is to investigate the effectiveness of different speed-reducing measures on a sharp curve of an existing road. Specifically, three perceptual treatments (white peripheral transverse bars, red peripheral transverse bars and optical speed bars) and chevrons are tested by means of a driving simulator over a randomly selected sample of forty-four drivers. The observed driving speeds are finally compared to those recorded under a baseline condition (with no treatment). Results confirmed the enormous potential of driving simulators in assessing the viability and design of several speed-reducing measures, especially those related to drivers’ perceptions that are strongly based on human factors issues, thereby allowing the selection of the most effective one in terms of cost reduction and safety promotion, in view of its actual implementation on the field.

This study analyzed the driving behavior and accidents related to traffic accidents using twitter tweets as a tool for text mining. Sharing short real time messages on twitter is becoming a popular and powerful microblogging tool which conveys more than 400 million messages per day. Active users when encounter any traffic incidents, posts instant messages on twitter. Tweets with key word “traffic accident” were collected using Google Sheets with twitter’s legal API keys obtained for research purpose. Various analyses were on 40,000 collected tweets performed on these tweets and was represented graphically using tableau analysis software and Rstudio. This method proved to be an effective and inexpensive method to study peoples’ real time approach on traffic accident throughout the world. It proved to be a strong approach towards learning traffic accident behaviors.

Hazard Perception can be considered to be situation cognition for dangerous situations in the traffic environment. Enough cognition could ensure drivers’ safety especially when they are facing emergent situations, which can ensure that drivers have full time to make timely response. Maintaining constant attention is necessary for drivers which could help them to better control vehicles and then avoid conflicts effectively. Drivers’ abilities to concentrate, visual search and distraction will affect brain waves, and drivers’ attention requires coordination between brain waves in different brain regions. Some researches extracted drivers’ electroencephalography (EEG) to explore the changes of their brain waves, and previous studies indicated that different frequency bands within the normal EEG frequency range reflected quite different cognitive processes. Moreover, some researches always associate with different brain areas to explore wave activity in different frequency bands. However, there are limited studies explore how could drivers’ EEG signals influence traffic safety and which EEG variables could measure drivers’ attention. The purpose of the study is to examine which EEG variables could be taken as measurement indexes to evaluate drivers’ attention level, furthermore we compare the differences of these EEG variables under different collision avoidance results. The experimental results of this study would lead to a better understanding of choosing which EEG variables could be used to measure drivers’ attention during the emergent collision avoidance process, and how drivers’ EEG variables changed could avoid the happening of conflicting.

The Philippine Government has yet to create a law standardizing tints in automobiles. Although many cities have different ordinances regulating the use of tints, a nationwide law has not yet been passed. Moreover, local government units have no supporting studies to justify their prohibition on the use of heavy tint films, and colored windshields. Thus, this study aims to determine the effects of various colored tints for windshields in terms of visual acuity, glare discomfort, and color perception at night. In order to simulate the different colored windshield tints, a cellophane of different colors (red, blue, green, and yellow) is attached to a viewing contraption. At a specified distance, the participants were asked to undergo a series of tests: (1) to gather data on visual acuity, the researchers made use of the Snellen chart; (2) to extract data on glare discomfort, a revised De Boer scale was used to rate the discomfort level of the HID light source; and (3) to assess color perception, participants were asked to evaluate colored targets using a viewing contraption. The data gathered was analyzed through the use of various statistical analyses such as the normality test, the Friedman test and the Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test. The results showed that the yellow tint is best used to enhance the sharpness of vision. Furthermore, yellow tint is among the best to use, alongside blue tint, in detecting primary colors. It is also discovered that the red, green, and blue colored tints best reduce the harmful effect of glare when applied to a high beam light source from an HID light. Lastly, the different colored tints do not differ in terms of glare discomfort when a low beam HID light source is used.

Today’s automotive engineering faces an ever-increasing product complexity but at the same time steadily decreasing time-to-market. To meet the comprehensive engineering requirements of the interior layout, ergonomics must be put into consideration from an early stage on. Besides modern virtual validation techniques, a physical seating buck is still vital for ergonomic investigations. The present publication introduces an approach to integrate a fully parametric electromechanical seating buck into vehicle development processes. A key element represents the software using a geometric constraint solver to map interior dimensions form a vehicle database on the seating buck.

A proposed benefit of self-driving cars is that of increased comfort and productivity of the occupants. Self-driving vehicle concepts and published research show the desire for engagement in non-driving related tasks while traveling in such vehicles. Based on survey results and financial productivity estimations, it is likely that completing work activities within such vehicles will be desirable, even expected. These predictions, along with current concepts for self-driving vehicles, fail to consider motion sickness. This paper explores why motion sickness is likely to be a factor in these vehicles, and explicit implications with a range of in-car non-driving related activities is discussed. Through a critique of current concepts, a contrast between that which is advertised, and what may be possible is highlighted and discussed. The importance for inclusivity in future self-driving vehicles considering demographic differences in motion sickness susceptibility is highlighted, and design recommendations for future self-driving vehicles are made.

To evaluate human discomfort in a vehicle seat, we have focused on the involuntary movements of participants. In our previous studies, we carried out the driving simulator experiment to investigate a change in human discomfort during 60 min of traveling. In the experiment, we video-recorded the participant’s movements and checked all video off-line to obtain the frequencies of participants’ movement. Consequently, we could discuss the relationship between the subjective ratings of participants and the frequencies of the involuntary movements. However, we recognized that the visual judgment was too heavy for us to carry out. Thus, we have developed other methods to detect involuntary movements. In this paper, we proposed the unrestrained method with flex sensors, and we reported the comparison result between the subjective discomfort and the frequency of the involuntary index as an objective index.

One of the key strategies to mitigate Metro Manila’s traffic congestion is to promote more efficient alternatives such as railway systems. In promoting the use of trains sourced abroad, it is important to ensure passenger safety and comfort. Accessibility of emergency features is crucial, and studies have shown that feature dimensions affect posture and may lead to the development of back pains and chest muscle strains if not properly fitted. This study investigated the possible mismatch between train feature dimensions and anthropometric measurements of Filipinos. Train car features of four trains from two of the mass rapid transport systems were measured and compared with the standards and corresponding anthropometric measurements, and a survey on satisfaction and importance was conducted. Overall, users gave features with insufficient measurements lower satisfaction ratings. It is recommended that non-conforming features are adjusted accordingly, with priority given to those with low satisfaction and high importance ratings.

This paper presents the analysis of UK road accident data to inform the development of a Direct Vision Standard (DVS) for trucks in the UK. The research forms part of a project funded by Transport for London. The DVS allows any truck to be rated in terms of its performance in the field of view afforded the driver. The standard will be used to limit the movement of poorly rated vehicles within central London from 2020. The standard will also foster improved truck designs for direct vision in the future. The analysis used accident data from the UK STATS 19 database between 2010 and 2015. Data were categorized on causation data and a series of accident characteristics to identify scenarios of accidents between trucks and vulnerable road users. These scenarios then informed the design of the DVS, in particular the definition of the areas of greatest risk around the cab.

This paper presents research performed on behalf of Transport for London which has defined a direct vision standard (DVS) for trucks. The research has been conducted against a background of over representation of trucks being involved in accidents with vulnerable road users (VRUs), and the premise that the reliance upon indirect vision contributes to accidents. 52 vehicle configurations have been modelled using CAD data from manufacturers, and 3D scan data. The methodology utilizes volumetric projection of the field of view of the virtual driver via the windows. This projection is intersected with an assessment volume (AV). The comparison metric is the volume of the AV that can be seen by the virtual driver. This is correlated with VRU visibility simulations. The technique has been validated by manufacturers and will come into force in London in 2020. Vehicles that don’t meet a minimum threshold will be required to fit extra safety equipment.

Rather different views on the state of the art in truck platooning have seen some significant public activity earlier in 2019. Is it that complex to achieve real world bottom line fuel savings on public highways or public roads? What role do users – truck drivers – play when it comes to truck platooning acceptance? Acceptance issues are vital for successfully deploying truck platooning technologies. Acceptance of truck platooning may vary according to the level of automation and diverse application contexts. This paper sketches deployment paths of truck platooning and investigates truck platooning acceptance issues. Doing so, a literature review regarding truck platooning acceptance as well as empirical studies in Austria are conducted. The empirical findings confirm the trust among drivers in level 1 platoons and indicate truck drivers are rather reserved when it comes to the intention to use level 1 platooning.

Merging sections are challenging for drivers of heavy goods vehicles. Visual support for merging was evaluated in a simulator. Experiment 1 tested HMIs that provided participants (n = 5) driving on the on-ramp with a top view or various forms of speed advice for accelerating behind or in front of a truck platoon on the freeway. Experiment 2 tested HMIs that provided drivers (n = 18) on the acceleration lane with a top view complemented with speed and gap advice for finding a gap to merge in. Experiment 1 showed that speed advice yielded less unnecessary braking compared to unsupported driving. In Experiment 2, speed advice yielded low satisfaction ratings. Our results highlight the potential of visual support and stress the importance of not visually overloading the driver.

Studies from various disciplines have showed, that adding human characteristics to non-human object improves the interaction between human and this object. It can be assumed that human-like technologies have a positive influence on driver-vehicle interaction as well. This study investigates the potential to increase the willingness of truck drivers to cooperate during overtaking scenarios using anthropomorphized interfaces. Therefore, a driving simulator experiment was conducted with truck drivers. Two conversational agents have been developed, which differ in their degree of human characteristics. They supported the truck driver in the initiation and during the overtaking manoeuver by clarifying a willingness to cooperate and communicating the status of the overtaking process. The results indicated no significance in the drivers’ willingness to cooperate in interaction with the two agents. However, the perceived human likeness increased through the addition of emotionality and identity. More than half of the drivers were in favor of the more human-like agent.

Shift-by-wire gear shifters are increasing the opportunities for individualization of functions and design. Though, greater variations can make gear shifters inefficient and error prone. Research regarding these aspects is still lacking. The aim of this study was to investigate how different gear shifter concepts were perceived in terms of Perceived Ease-of-Use and Task success, depending on their level of complexity, the shape of the shifter and stability of the shifter pattern. An experimental study was conducted with participants using six types of gear shifters on three levels of complexity. Results showed that the Monostable joystick received the lowest Perceived Ease-of-Use scores. Furthermore, the Rotary Toggle shifter with monostable function, had lowest Task success, which was supposed to be a result of e.g. unfamiliar design.

Within the broad area of forensic accident investigations, much attention is usually focused on the accident reconstruction as well as human factors related to visual conspicuity, including time of day, age of driver, sight lines, weather, and the presence or absence of any intoxicating substances. This paper presents several approaches to accident reconstruction, human vision, as well as haptic and auditory factors tied to data obtained from a subject rig traveling over the rumble strips. These analyses are related to aspects of a severe trucking accident that occurred at approximately 4:30 a.m. on a clear, dry, interstate highway. The accident occurred when a tractor and semi-trailer hauling a large shipment of whiskey, appeared to strike a second tractor and semi-trailer that was parked near the fog line. Truck 1 raked the trailer and cab of Truck 2, rupturing both fuels tanks which led to a horrific fire.

Despite good quality roads and modern transport infrastructure, Arabian Gulf countries suffer from high road mortality rate compared to developed countries. Road traffic injury is the leading cause of death among children and other vulnerable road users in United Arab Emirates. Safe urban mobility is very critical to Dubai’s continued economic growth and future development. However, diverse socio-economic and safety culture background of Dubai’s immigrant population makes traffic safety improvement quite challenging. An online survey was developed to study tram driver opinions and perceptions related to road user behavior, tram safety challenges and suggestions for improvement. The survey findings suggest developing a positive traffic safety culture in the city to reduce serious injuries and crashes involving trams. The road safety campaign should target new drivers/tourists not familiar with tram traffic rules. Driver training program to be enhanced for reducing tram road traffic incidents.

The use of mobile phones while driving is a major driver distraction leading to traffic accidents. Using Twitter Archiving Google Sheet, this paper collected 5,208 tweets containing the hashtags: #distracteddriving, #textanddrive, #textinganddriving. By using R studio and Tableau, the tweets data was visualized and aggregated. The virtual cellphone distracted driving community was also mapped through Gephi. The results could visualize the snapshot of the attitudes and opinions surrounding driving safety and cellphone use.

This paper compared total trends of traffic crash frequency and severity at High Crash Location (HCL) intersections during three study periods in Nevada, US. The paper provided an in-depth inspection in selecting and ranking HCL intersections by the total score and Potential for Safety Improvement (PSI). The study indicates that the rank of HCL intersections by the total score is very different from ranks by PSIs. Intersections with high PSIs might not be qualified on the list of top-ranked HCL intersections with the underestimated attention, while intersections with low PSIs, but high total scores might be paid attention overestimated. The study reflected that potential rooms for crash mitigations are limited for intersections with negative PSIs but qualified as HCL intersections by the total score. How to select and rank HCL intersections plays a very important role in directing traffic safety funding allocation and most mitigating traffic crashes.

Within the scope of the research project “Reallabor Schorndorf”, funded by the state Baden Wuerttemberg (Germany), demand responsive transport and operating systems as well as a virtual vehicle concept for public transport (PT) were designed and tested in a “real-world laboratory”. The aim of the subproject Vehicle Development was to design a vehicle in an effective and repeatable manner that best meets the users requirements with respect to the demand responsive public transport system. The novel user-centered development methodology and the exemplary result are highlighted in this contribution.

Technology evolution has changed the way people reason, interact and how machinery is designed. Technology has grown beyond human comprehension, especially in the automotive industry. As technology evolves, things have become more crucial in a human’s life. As a result, invention of new cars and other means of transportation have become a huge success. Use of automatic cars is expanding day-by-day. Modern cars now come with some benefits such as adaptive cruise control system, lane change information, electronic sideview system, blind spot information, warning indicator of distance between cars and backup camera, etc. Yet, the possible stress caused by using some of these technologies and its impact on drivers have not be fully investigated. This study investigated driver’s cognitive stress from using electronic sideview system versus regular sideview mirror for lane changing. Due to limited availability of cars equipped with electronic sideview system, only twenty drivers participated in the study. Sampled drivers included 7 females and 13 males. Seventy percent of the participants fell into age category of 18–28, 10% fell into age category of 29–39 and 20% in age category of 40–50, while none falls into the category above 50 years old. The study was conducted in the Midwest, United States (US) and the University Institutional Review Board approved the study protocol. Results reveal that 60% of the drivers responded to be more stressed using the electronic sideview system compared with the manual sideview mirror. About 50% affirmed that the electronic sideview system has a better image compared with the regular sideview mirror, but 70% of this 50% complained of cognitive overload. Two-drivers who affirmed that the electronic systems work perfectly also acknowledged that the confusion associated while deciding on which of the two systems to use. Further, 70% of the drivers reported to having difficulty using the electronic sideview system when driving in the same direction with sunlight ray. Twelve percent of the drivers responded to like the electronic system, but requested for car manufacturer improvement. The findings from this study could add to the existing knowledge on the impacts of modern cars inbuilt with electronic sideview system on drivers.

Steering wheel designs in motorsport have evolved significantly in the last 20 years. Their complexity in particular has increased markedly in terms of secondary controls due mainly to the requirement for the optimization of performance-based settings. There have been multiple occurrences of driver mistakes that have been linked to this increase in complexity, suggesting the need for usability improvements. In order to assess designs, it is necessary to construct prototype wheels for experimental use in a motorsport simulator. This paper describes the processes and equipment required to construct a steering wheel. It covers the development of 3D models, the manufacturing of the chassis, and printing of the 3D structure. The integration and functionality of the electronic components is discussed, in addition to the simulator software configuration. This development structure allows multiple designs to be constructed for relatively low cost and over a short time frame.

Within the transport sector, the use of electric drives and renewable energies can significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, in Germany, sales figures of battery electric vehicles (BEV) are far below the expectation. A major barrier is the current state of the charging infrastructure (CIS), which is not perceived to be in line with the demand of potential users. For the future positioning of charging infrastructure, a comprehensive understanding of the charging decision is required. Therefore, both current e-vehicle users and potential future users must be considered. In the present study, a two-step methodological approach was applied to gain a better understanding of the influence of the concrete driving situation on the decision to refuel or charge. Initially, interviews were conducted (N = 18) to identify possible motivational factors for the decision. Subsequently, an adaptive choice-based conjoint analysis was designed and carried out (N = 235). The remaining range, the current price, the necessary detour, the type and familiarity of the surroundings, the type and phase of trip and the service offered on site were thereby included to determine their relative importance for the refueling or charging decision. The results indicate that the decision triggers are similar for e-vehicle users and combustion engine users. For both user groups, detour, filling level and price are the most important reasons, while the local services and surroundings are the second most important.

Segways offer elderly users an opportunity to increase their mobility range and may also be useful as a training device. As of yet, very little is known about muscular activity during Segway use. Hence, the aim of this pilot study was to investigate the muscular strain during the use of Segways. For this purpose, 15 study participants were equipped with EMG measuring devices on rectus femoris, biceps femoris, tibialis anterior and biceps brachii of the right half of the body. Following maximum strength tests, the participants completed a defined course once on foot and three times on a Segway. The averaged EMG data during walking and Segway use were compared. The results show that the use of Segways leads to muscle activity. No statistically significant differences were found between the average muscular strain of the lower body muscles caused by walking and using a Segway. The systematic use of Segways may be an attractive option for the development of physical training programs to prevent falls.

Driving performance was measured using the lane change test (LCT). Participants followed lane change instructions presented in three locations: road signs, a head-up display (HUD), and a head-down display (HDD). To measure the participants’ ability to detect ecologically-valid stimuli while viewing the displays, a peripheral detection task (PDT) with inward-moving stimuli from either side of the road was applied on half of tracks. Interacting with the HDD resulted in the poorest driving performance, and similar driving performance was found with the road signs and the HUD. Further analyses revealed that the participants’ age had an effect on their performance with the display locations. The younger age group (20–24 years) drove the best with the HUD; while the older age group (26–31 years) drove the best with the road signs. PDT performance differences were not significant. Results indicate that HUDs may be a good option for displaying navigational information to drivers.

Intelligent parking assist systems are a common feature of modern vehicles. They provide assistance during maneuvering and parking of cars. While current vehicle backup cameras are an effective solution, the absence of spatial depth may lead to misjudgments and uncertainty, leading to material or personal damage. A novel approach to reduce this risk is the implementation of autostereoscopic displays which provide the user with a perception of the depth in a scene. This added spatial information enables better judgements of positions and distances for displayed objects. If implemented into parking assistance systems, effectiveness is increased by providing better distinguishable spatial relationships. The presented study is aimed to determine whether the use of an autostereoscopic display (i) improves the driver’s spatial orientation and if this increase in information (ii) results in a measurable improvement of the parking performance. Results show that there is a tendency towards a stereoscopic parking assistance, but no significant effect were found.

Optimised transport systems plays multi-purpose growth and development functions and roles in any area or region. When transport systems are optimised, integrated and efficient, such transport systems have the innate capacity and capability to support the flow of goods, labour and increased mobilities. In Gauteng, the apartheid manufactured “spaces and mobility lines” have been credited with various scales of transport, growth and development inequalities. Well over 25 years, since the dawn of the 1994 new democracy in South Africa, shifts in transport, spatial planning and development have made significant but arguably “microscopic gains” in seeking to reverse and advance new spatial scales and forms of transformative development. This paper, based on Gauteng province showcases the transport realities and challenges in Johannesburg, making use of case studies from low income peripheral located settlements. The recommendations resonate with the need for decisive systems and the “planting” of an adaptive, robust and flexible steering mechanism in order to transform the transport geography of Gauteng province. The central question discussed revolves on whether new transport geography or the old transport geography is being (re)created and (re)imagined in Gauteng province.

This article presents findings from an ongoing research project aiming to study the future of shipping operations with a specific focus on issues related to human roles, responsibilities and the organization of work. A focus group with representatives for the Swedish shipping cluster (n = 6) and academia (n = 2) has been conducted to explore potential strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) with the developments towards autonomous shipping. The results show an overall concern for how to realize the transition between today’s maritime traffic and a future setting where vessels may be operated from shore. Technology to automate navigational tasks and increase the degree of autonomy in shipping are developing, but more attention needs to be paid to the transition of work that may accompany the ongoing developments. Clear roles, responsibilities and a definition of potential operator competences need to be formulated to ensure a human-centered development for safer shipping.

In the future, operators may be required to control and monitor multiple Teleoperated vehicles which could potentially increase usage errors, particularly in situations of high demand. The volume and type of data presented to an operator is key to ensuring accurate and successful operation. The current work examined the impact of increased sensor and automation state feedback on operator interactions with a teleoperated vehicle. Participants completed a simulation that required a teleoperated vehicle to be piloted to a specified region. The vehicle was equipped with both manual and autonomous control modes. It was found that increased sensor and automation state feedback increased the total number of manual interactions with the vehicle, as well as increased situation awareness. The presentation of sensor and automation state feedback may facilitate clearer understanding of automation and enable more precise and timely manual interactions.

The Italian nautical industrial sector has always been an excellence of international level. From 2014 we are witnessing a gradual recovery of the market, after the crash of 2011. The recovery is slow and approaches around 18% uphill. This phenomenon is due to different key factors that refer to the concept and characteristics of the particular products. The first condition is the introduction of new materials and new process technologies. These have allowed the reorganization and optimization of the production system, according to the new needs expressed at global level. Market of maxy and mega yachts is a very fertile field of investigation, both for sailing yachts that motor boats; the interest is expressed thanks to their intrinsic value of “luxury goods”. The results of research in technology and engineering contribute to the choices made by the team designers, who see in the introduction of every possible form of innovation, an added value to the improvement of life on board.

The continuing advancement of technological development will require submarine control rooms of the future to process greater volumes of data from next-generation sensors. The requirements placed upon future submarine control rooms might necessitate changes to their ways of working to maintain effective performance. The Command Team Experimental Test-Bed (ComTET) is a project that aims to evaluate future ways of working through systematic, repeatable, and statistically robust experimentation. As part of the ComTET program, novel User Interfaces (UI) are being designed and evaluated. The design process utilised for the development of the novel UIs was the Google Ventures design sprint methodology, with the aim of leveraging expert participants experience and recommendations to inform future interface design requirements and novel concepts. The current work describes a three-day workshop that was held to design these interfaces and presents the resultant prototype designs.

With an increase in flight length and duration, long-haul and ultra-long-haul flights require a comprehensive fatigue management approach in order to minimize risk. Currently, regulators manage fatigue with strategies such as duty time limits and minimum number of crew. All airlines have to implement a Fatigue Risk Management System. When considering Single Pilot Operations (SPO) for commercial airliners an approach for fatigue management has not yet been developed. The present paper reviews fatigue management guidelines and mitigation strategies to consider them for a possible application to SPO. An overview over differences between flight durations and crewing in SPO is presented with the requirements for a relief crewmember. Finally, it is argued that flight duration will become more important in SPO but the basics of fatigue management especially can be adapted. Nonetheless, the application of in-flight mitigation strategies will have to be reconsidered and tailored directly to the concept of SPO with respect to its future advanced automation tools and their reliability.

Air traffic control tower (ATCT) controllers utilize perceptual cues from the environment to visually acquire objects in the air and on the ground. The terms “detect,” “recognize,” and “identify” are generally accepted by researchers and evaluators in terms of visual object discrimination. However, these terms do not consider environmental context or object change in state over time. These terms are also difficult to assess in an operational manner, and may not take into consideration visual cues impacted by the transition from an “out the window” view to a video screen. Operational visual requirements for ATCT tasks were created and linked to the terms “detect,” “recognize,” and “identify.” Multiple operational requirements were unable to link to these terms and a gap was shown with perceptual cues used in ATCT tasks. To fill this need, the terms “observe” and “verify” were defined visually and linked to the appropriate requirements.

In recent years there have been numerous accidents and incidents for which investigators were unable to retrieve pertinent cockpit voice recorder (CVR) data. As a result the International Civil Aviation Organization and the European Union are introducing new requirements so that, from 2021, newly-manufactured transport aircraft over 27,000 kg must be equipped with 25-hour CVRs. This study examined 15 accidents and incidents that occurred between 2014 and 2017. Five reasons were identified for CVR data not being available for these events. The study indicates that in a majority of the events relevant data would have been retained if 25-hour CVRs had been used. In addition, the study highlights the lack of standardization in the presentation of CVR data in accident and incident reports. In order to facilitate a comprehensive assessment of the new CVR requirements, recommendations are made about the CVR metadata that should be included in future reports.

In this paper, Holding Stack Management (HSM), Continuous Climb Operations (CCO), Continuous Descent Operations (CDO), and Trajectory Based Operations (TBO) procedures are assessed in relation to the use of an additional 3D display. Two display seetings are compared, namely 2D+3D and 2D only. Twelve Air Traffic Control Officers (ATCOs) took part in the experiment. Traditional questionnaires such as NASA TLX, TRUST, etc. were given at the end of each 30-minute trial for each display setting. Electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded during the experiments to continuously monitor the changes of the brain states of the ATCOs. The results of the data analyses show that by using 2D+3D display setting, more positive emotions, but higher stress and workload levels were experienced by ATCOs in TBO, CCO and CDO procedures than in 2D setting. In HSM, reduced stress and significantly lower cognitive workload were experienced by ATCOs when they were using 2D+3D setting.

This paper presents an approach describing how Air Traffic Controller (ATCO) fixations can be mapped to dynamic moving flight objects (track and label) on the radar screen in real-time, using a remote eye tracker. Real time simulations were conducted for 30 one-hour experimental sessions with participants from three expertise levels, using scenarios that mimic actual air traffic, consisting of both wide and medium angle crossing points. Monitoring performance metrics using fixation count and duration on an aircraft’s flight object on the radar screen were investigated in a macroscopic one-hour duration and four minutes before a crossing point for both wide and medium angle crossings. Distinct differences in the monitoring behavior of participants were found in the macroscopic one-hour duration and wide angle crossing. Four new parameters relating to the fixation counts and durations on dynamic flight objects, which could be used to distinguish the expertise level of ATCOs, were established.

Accident investigations show that piloting errors (e.g., incorrect trajectory) often result from an inadequate monitoring of the cockpit instruments. Recent improvements of the eye tracking technology now allow a reliable and rather accurate recording of eye movements in ecological environments. The present study investigates how the integration of eye tracking in the cockpit could help pilots performing an efficient surveillance of their instruments. We developed FETA, an embedded system that evaluates online the visual monitoring of the cockpit. The system compares the current visual scan of the pilot with a database of “standard” visual circuits established thanks to eye-tracking recordings from 16 airlines pilots. If the current visual scan deviates too much from the database, e.g., the speed is not fixated during a too long period, FETA emits a vocal alarm to reorient attention. This paper presents the development of FETA and its preliminary evaluation with 5 airlines pilots. During an approach-landing phase in flight simulator; we assessed the impact of FETA on situation awareness, cognitive resources, flight performance, and visual scans. Results showed that FETA system efficiently redirected attention toward critical flight instruments. However, improvements must be performed to satisfy with operational requirements. For example, it seems important to take also into-account flight parameters in order to limit unnecessary alerts.

The study surveyed 919 Chinese student pilots with 20 national culture questions. The researcher uses 5 questions to measure one national culture variables including Power Distance, Individualism, Masculinity, and Uncertainty Avoidance. The study performance a principle factor analysis (PCA) to the questionnaires and found that environment setting was essential to abstracted factors from national culture survey. The Kaiser-Meyer-Oklin measure of sampling adequacy (KMO) of this study was 0.85. A Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity (Bartlett’s test) was χ2(n = 919) = 4975.077 and P value 0.001. The study founding echoed with Harari and Perkins who suggested that a culture system is different within different environments [1]. The result of PCA showed the survey could extract 4 latent factors, and the cumulative variance of the PCA indicated that the survey questions only explained 50% of the variances. The abstracted factors were reflecting large group environment, cockpit environment, general society expectation, and self-esteem.

The complex flight procedures and various operating devices form a sophisticated operational context in flight, and the aircraft may encounter multitudinous risky factors. A large number of surveys show that human error is the most important factor in aviation accidents. The flight crew needs pay more attention to operational risks in critical flight-phases, and it is a serious concern for aviation safety to conduct human reliability analysis (HRA). However, the issues of lacking data, and the complexity of human behavior have greatly reduced the applicability of well-established HRA methods in flight context. The main purpose of the study is to determine human error probability (HEP) for specific flight tasks and predict safety level of operation in flight. This paper adopts a simplified Cognitive reliability and error analysis method (CREAM) to quantify human reliability for critical flight-phases. The example of HRA of the Boeing 737–800 operation process is utilized to demonstrate the proposed model. The results provide contributions to aviation safety and realizes the effective assessment of human reliability for specific flight tasks.

This paper provides a summary of results from a research project commissioned by the Federal Aviation Administration NextGen Human Factors Division to explore the factors associated with air traffic controller acceptance of a Performance Based Navigation (PBN) procedure, “Established on Required Navigation Performance” (EoR). Interviews were arranged at two terminal air traffic control facilities that were “early adopters” of EoR approaches. A total of 38 interviews were conducted with facility personnel, including 24 Certified Professional Controllers. Questions focused on how air traffic controllers integrated the new procedures into their controlling style and practice, and the organizational and operational factors that either supported or hindered controller utilization of the new procedures. A framework of the results is presented, providing insights into how to support air traffic controllers in moving towards trajectory-based operations. The results could be used to increase the probability that the potential benefits of PBN procedures can be realized.

The mutual influence of the components of the safety paradigm of ICAO is explained from the standpoint of the manifestation of the human factor - “attitudes towards safe actions or conditions”. “Attitude” is characterized by the following indicators of decision-making: the main dominants (propensity, aversion, indifference to risk), levels of aspirations, and fuzzy estimates of risk on the ICAO scale. The indicators are examined through the attitude of ATC-students and professional ATCs to violations of the standards for the separation of aircrafts in horizontal flight. This made it possible to evaluate potential violations in well physically measured and interpreted distances between controlled aircraft. Quantitative indicators of violations were described in the algorithm for conducting personality-oriented simulator training of ATC-students. The additional instructor’s work load associated with the implementation of the algorithm is determined by the following indicators: stereotype (Zn = 0.58, which clearly fits the established standards of 0.25 ≤ Zn ≤ 0.85) and logical complexity (Ln =  0.30), which is 1.5 times higher than capabilities of the “average” operator. The paper suggests the directions for improvement of professional training of ATC-students.

The EDEN-ISS is a greenhouse project at the Neumayer Station III in Antarctica. For the first time, this greenhouse supplied the station with fresh food and enabled research regarding sustainable and autonomous food production from Earth to Space. To investigate the plants’ impact on the crew (biophilia), a debriefing, questionnaires, and behavioral observation were used. The results show that the crew was satisfied with the consumption of fresh vegetables, which are usually not available in Antarctica. All (9 of 9 crew members) also agreed on the positive psychological and physiological impact of the plants on their well-being. The investigation will be repeated with the next crew of the Neumayer Station III and will also be proposed for comparison at stations like Concordia.

Space Tourism is a topic of ever-growing discussion as commercial space providers are closer to opening opportunities for aspiring spaceflight participants. The current efforts on defining requirements for commercial space flight crews and participants, in the United States, are mainly safety-based and take into consideration the minimization of risks both from an operational and regulatory perspective. There is however a need to open discussions on space passenger experience design and create a paradigm that covers this novel role. A design approach is outlined to identify areas of study that already attempt to address human factors aspects in astronautical applications. This paper employs the PEAR model to identify high-level passenger-environment interactions that ought to be considered within the context of tourism. Using Virgin Galactic’s concept of operations as a baseline, the model is used to gather the human factors that appear influential in passenger experience as well as methods to evaluate them.

Based on cognitive extent, this paper focuses on workload evaluation for spatial fine-grained tracking control tasks. Cognitive model for manual rendezvous and docking (RvD) control task is setup in the light of cognitive architecture firstly. Then, total active time for each module in cognitive architecture is calculated to represent the active time for corresponding brain region. Workload predicted by both the NASA-TLX subjective scale method and proposals are compared to verify the evaluation’s validation on a cognitive degree. Finally, mapping the corresponding activities of the cognitive model to the human brain functional related area and making the brain cortex region’s activity animation with time of model’s running, the simulation for mental workload of R&D manual task is implemented. The results show that evaluation of human brain workload from a cognitive level is more effective, objective and accurate than traditional scales and physiological measurement methods.