Development and Evaluation of a Neuroergonomic Smart Phone Application to Assess Vigilance and Arousal (original) (raw)
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Evaluation of a Psychomotor Vigilance Task for Touch Screen Devices
Human Factors, 2017
Objective: Our goals were to compare three techniques for performing a psychomotor vigilance task (PVT) on a touch screen device (fifth-generation iPod) and to determine the device latency. Background: The PVT is a reaction-time test that is sensitive to sleep loss and circadian misalignment. Several PVT tests have been developed for touch screen devices, but unlike the standard PVT developed for laboratory use, these tests allow for touch responses to be recorded at any location on the device, with contact from any finger. In addition, touch screen devices exhibit latency in processing time between the touch response and the time registered by the device. Method: Thirteen participants completed a 5-min PVT on a touch screen device held in three positions (on a table with index finger, handheld portrait with index finger, handheld landscape with thumb). We compared reaction-time outcomes in each orientation condition using paired t tests. We recorded the first session using a high-s...
Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society
Objective We demonstrate and discuss the use of mobile electroencephalogram (EEG) for neuroergonomics. Both technical state of the art as well as measures and cognitive concepts are systematically addressed. Background Modern work is increasingly characterized by information processing. Therefore, the examination of mental states, mental load, or cognitive processing during work is becoming increasingly important for ergonomics. Results Mobile EEG allows to measure mental states and processes under real live conditions. It can be used for various research questions in cognitive neuroergonomics. Besides measures in the frequency domain that have a long tradition in the investigation of mental fatigue, task load, and task engagement, new approaches—like blink-evoked potentials—render event-related analyses of the EEG possible also during unrestricted behavior. Conclusion Mobile EEG has become a valuable tool for evaluating mental states and mental processes on a highly objective level...
Mobile manifestations of alertness
Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction with Mobile Devices and Services, 2016
Our body clock causes considerable variations in our behavioral, mental, and physical processes, including alertness, throughout the day. While much research has studied technology usage patterns, the potential impact of underlying biological processes on these patterns is under-explored. Using data from 20 participants over 40 days, this paper presents the first study to connect patterns of mobile application usage with these contributing biological factors. Among other results, we find that usage patterns vary for individuals with different body clock types, that usage correlates with rhythms of alertness, that app use features such as duration and switching can distinguish periods of low and high alertness, and that app use reflects sleep interruptions as well as sleep duration. We conclude by discussing how our findings inform the design of biologically-friendly technology that can better support personal rhythms of performance.
Preliminary validation study of the 3-min wrist-worn psychomotor vigilance test
Behavior research methods, 2016
The 10-min psychomotor vigilance test (PVT) is a widely used tool to assess behavioral alertness. In operational environments, however, the 3-min version of the PVT is more practicable. Under controlled laboratory conditions, we compared performance on the 3-min PVT on a wrist-worn device with the 3-min PVT on a laptop computer. We conducted two repeated measures experiments (72 participants) to assess the effects of PVT device type (laptop or wrist-worn), backlight on the wrist-worn device (on or off), ambient light (low or normal levels), and interstimulus interval (ISI). First, we compared the wrist-worn PVT (ISI of 2-10 s) with the laptop-based PVT (ISI of 1-4 s). Participants performed six PVT trials counterbalanced for order of ambient light and device type. In both ambient-lighting conditions, the median differences in PVT metrics (reaction time, response speed, and percentage of 355-ms or 500-ms lapses combined with false starts) between the laptop and the wrist-worn PVT wit...
Journal of neuroscience methods, 2018
The psychomotor vigilance task (PVT) has been widely used to assess the effects of sleep deprivation on human neurobehavioral performance. To facilitate research in this field, we previously developed the PC-PVT, a freely available software system analogous to the "gold-standard" PVT-192 that, in addition to allowing for simple visual reaction time (RT) tests, also allows for near real-time PVT analysis, prediction, and visualization in a personal computer (PC). Here we present the PC-PVT 2.0 for Windows 10 operating system, which has the capability to couple PVT tests of a study protocol with the study's sleep/wake and caffeine schedules, and make real-time individualized predictions of PVT performance for such schedules. We characterized the accuracy and precision of the software in measuring RT, using 44 distinct combinations of PC hardware system configurations. We found that 15 system configurations measured RTs with an average delay of less than 10 ms, an error c...
2020
Objective-We demonstrate and discuss the use of mobile EEG for neuroergonomics. Both technical state of the art, measures and cognitive concepts are systematically addressed. Background-Modern work is increasingly characterized by information processing. Therefore, the examination of mental states, mental load or cognitive processing during work is becoming increasingly important for ergonomics. Results-Mobile EEG allows to measure mental states and processes under real live conditions. It can be used for various research questions in cognitive neuroergonomics. Besides measures in the frequency domain that have a long tradition in the investigation of mental fatigue, task load and task engagement, new approaches-like blink-evoked potentials-render event-related analyses of the EEG possible also during unrestricted behavior. Conclusion-Mobile EEG has become a valuable tool for evaluating mental states and mental processes on a highly objective level during work. The main advantage of this technique is that working environments don't have to be changed while systematically measuring brain functions at work. Moreover, the work flow is unaffected by such neuroergonomic approaches.
Validation of a Smartphone-Based Approach to In Situ Cognitive Fatigue Assessment
Background: Acquired Brain Injuries (ABIs) can result in multiple detrimental cognitive effects, such as reduced memory capability, concentration, and planning. These effects can lead to cognitive fatigue, which can exacerbate the symptoms of ABIs and hinder management and recovery. Assessing cognitive fatigue is difficult due to the largely subjective nature of the condition and existing assessment approaches. Traditional methods of assessment use self-assessment questionnaires delivered in a medical setting, but recent work has attempted to employ more objective cognitive tests as a way of evaluating cognitive fatigue. However, these tests are still predominantly delivered within a medical environment, limiting their utility and efficacy.
The Neuroergonomics of Vigilance
Human factors, 2017
The aim of this study was to examine the effects of uncertainty about where in the field of view critical signals for detection appear during a vigilance task (spatial uncertainty) on cerebral blood flow velocity (CBFV) and oculomotor fatigue. Neuroergonomics is a dimension of human factors founded by Raja Parasuraman that studies brain functions underlying performance at work. Neuroergonomic studies have shown that observers in vigilance tasks lose information-processing resources over time and experience oculomotor fatigue as indexed by a temporal decline in CBFV and elevation in eye closure as reflected in the PERCLOS metric. Because spatial uncertainty increases an observer's need for visual scanning relative to a spatial certainty condition, it was anticipated that spatial uncertainty would result in a greater temporal decline in CBFV and increased eye closure in a vigilance session. Observers performed a simulated unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) control task wherein collisio...
The 3-minute Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT) Embedded in a Wrist-worn Device: Time of Day Effects
Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting
The study assesses the utility of the 3-minute version of the Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT) embedded in a wrist-worn device (interstimulus interval – ISI =1 - 4 seconds) to detect changes in performance between a morning and an afternoon data collection session. The experiment utilized a randomized, within-subject, repeated-measures design with two factors, device type (wrist-worn PVT, laptop PVT, Go/No-Go task) and time of day (morning, afternoon). Results showed that performance in both the wrist-worn 3-minute PVT (ISI = 1 – 4 seconds) and the 5-minute Go/No-Go task (180 trials, 80% Go/20% No Go; ISI = 0.5 – 1.0 seconds) differed between the morning and the afternoon sessions but not the laptop-based PVT. We discuss these findings under the light of the differences in task characteristics between the wrist-worn and the laptop PVT
2016
The vigilance decrement and inability of the industry worker to sustain attention during a task can lead to errors in operating, which could further lead to dangerous situations including catastrophic events with fatalities. Therefore, measuring operators’ vigilance level, while performing everyday monotonous repetitive task, is of crucial interest. The current project is related to innovation through human factors in risk analysis and management at the work place (InnHF project, http://www.innhf.eu). The term innovation is justified by hypothesis that it is possible to obtain higher degree of operators’ safety and workers wellbeing by on-line measurement of operators’ vigilance state, using lightweight and wireless sensor systems. Extensive literature review in the fields of neuroergonomics, human factors and ergonomics (HFE), psychophysiology and biomedical signal processing preceded the current research in order to approach this problem in the most appropriate way. At this point,...