Matching Items (17)
Filtering by

Clear all filters

153910-Thumbnail Image.png
Description
Despite the various driver assistance systems and electronics, the threat to life of driver, passengers and other people on the road still persists. With the growth in technology, the use of in-vehicle devices with a plethora of buttons and features is increasing resulting in increased distraction. Recently, speech recognition has

Despite the various driver assistance systems and electronics, the threat to life of driver, passengers and other people on the road still persists. With the growth in technology, the use of in-vehicle devices with a plethora of buttons and features is increasing resulting in increased distraction. Recently, speech recognition has emerged as an alternative to distraction and has the potential to be beneficial. However, considering the fact that automotive environment is dynamic and noisy in nature, distraction may not arise from the manual interaction, but due to the cognitive load. Hence, speech recognition certainly cannot be a reliable mode of communication.

The thesis is focused on proposing a simultaneous multimodal approach for designing interface between driver and vehicle with a goal to enable the driver to be more attentive to the driving tasks and spend less time fiddling with distractive tasks. By analyzing the human-human multimodal interaction techniques, new modes have been identified and experimented, especially suitable for the automotive context. The identified modes are touch, speech, graphics, voice-tip and text-tip. The multiple modes are intended to work collectively to make the interaction more intuitive and natural. In order to obtain a minimalist user-centered design for the center stack, various design principles such as 80/20 rule, contour bias, affordance, flexibility-usability trade-off etc. have been implemented on the prototypes. The prototype was developed using the Dragon software development kit on android platform for speech recognition.

In the present study, the driver behavior was investigated in an experiment conducted on the DriveSafety driving simulator DS-600s. Twelve volunteers drove the simulator under two conditions: (1) accessing the center stack applications using touch only and (2) accessing the applications using speech with offered text-tip. The duration for which user looked away from the road (eyes-off-road) was measured manually for each scenario. Comparison of results proved that eyes-off-road time is less for the second scenario. The minimalist design with 8-10 icons per screen proved to be effective as all the readings were within the driver distraction recommendations (eyes-off-road time < 2sec per screen) defined by NHTSA.
ContributorsMittal, Richa (Author) / Gaffar, Ashraf (Thesis advisor) / Femiani, John (Committee member) / Gray, Robert (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
156054-Thumbnail Image.png
Description
Medical errors are now estimated to be the third leading cause of death in the United States (Makary & Daniel, 2016). Look-alike, sound- alike prescription drug mix-ups contribute to this figure. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) have recommended the use of

Medical errors are now estimated to be the third leading cause of death in the United States (Makary & Daniel, 2016). Look-alike, sound- alike prescription drug mix-ups contribute to this figure. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) have recommended the use of Tall Man lettering since 2008, in which dissimilar portions of confusable drug names pairs are capitalized in order to make them more distinguishable. Research on the efficacy of Tall Man lettering in differentiating confusable drug name pairs has been inconclusive and it is imperative to investigate potential efficacy further considering the clinical implications (Lambert, Schroeder & Galanter, 2015). The present study aimed to add to the body of research on Tall Man lettering while also investigating another possibility for the mechanism behind Tall Man’s efficacy, if it in fact exists. Studies indicate that the first letter in a word offers an advantage over other positions, resulting in more accurate and faster recognition (Adelman, Marquis & Sabatos-DeVito, 2010; Scaltritti & Balota, 2013). The present study used a 2x3 repeated measures design to analyze the effect of position on Tall Man lettering efficacy. Participants were shown a prime drug, followed by a brief mask, and then either the same drug name or its confusable pair and asked to identify whether they were the same or different. All participants completed both lowercase and Tall Man conditions. Overall performance measured by accuracy and reaction time revealed lowercase to be more effective than Tall Man. With regard to the position of Tall Man letters, a first position advantage was seen both in accuracy and reaction time. A first position advantage was seen in the lowercase condition as well, suggesting the location of the differing portion of the word matters more than the format used. These findings add to the body of inconclusive research on the efficacy of Tall Man lettering in drug name confusion. Considering its impact on patient safety, more research should be conducted to definitively answer the question as to whether or not Tall Man should be used in practice.
ContributorsKnobloch, Ashley (Author) / Branaghan, Russell (Thesis advisor) / Cooke, Nancy J. (Committee member) / Gray, Robert (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
156243-Thumbnail Image.png
Description
Using a modified news media brand personality scale developed by Kim, Baek, and Martin (2010), this study measured the personalities of eight news media outlets and combined them into the same associative network with participants’ self-image via the Pathfinder tool (Schvaneveldt, Durso, & Dearholt, 1989). Using these networks, this study

Using a modified news media brand personality scale developed by Kim, Baek, and Martin (2010), this study measured the personalities of eight news media outlets and combined them into the same associative network with participants’ self-image via the Pathfinder tool (Schvaneveldt, Durso, & Dearholt, 1989). Using these networks, this study was able to both explore the personality associations of participants and observe if self-congruity, measured by the distance between the self-image node and a brand, is significantly related to participant preference for a brand. Self-congruity was found to be significantly related to preference. However, this relationship was mediated by participants’ fiscal and social orientation. Overall, using Pathfinder to generate associative networks and measure self-congruity could be a useful approach for understanding how people perceive and relate to different news media outlets.
ContributorsWillinger, Jacob T (Author) / Branaghan, Russel (Thesis advisor) / Craig, Scotty (Committee member) / Gray, Robert (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
156924-Thumbnail Image.png
Description
Highly automated vehicles require drivers to remain aware enough to takeover

during critical events. Driver distraction is a key factor that prevents drivers from reacting

adequately, and thus there is need for an alert to help drivers regain situational awareness

and be able to act quickly and successfully should a

Highly automated vehicles require drivers to remain aware enough to takeover

during critical events. Driver distraction is a key factor that prevents drivers from reacting

adequately, and thus there is need for an alert to help drivers regain situational awareness

and be able to act quickly and successfully should a critical event arise. This study

examines two aspects of alerts that could help facilitate driver takeover: mode (auditory

and tactile) and direction (towards and away). Auditory alerts appear to be somewhat

more effective than tactile alerts, though both modes produce significantly faster reaction

times than no alert. Alerts moving towards the driver also appear to be more effective

than alerts moving away from the driver. Future research should examine how

multimodal alerts differ from single mode, and see if higher fidelity alerts influence

takeover times.
ContributorsBrogdon, Michael A (Author) / Gray, Robert (Thesis advisor) / Branaghan, Russell (Committee member) / Chiou, Erin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
157120-Thumbnail Image.png
Description
As automation becomes more prevalent in society, the frequency that systems involve interactive human-automation control increases. Previous studies have shown accountability to be a valuable way of eliciting human engagement and reducing various biases, but these studies have involved the presence of an authority figure during the research. The current

As automation becomes more prevalent in society, the frequency that systems involve interactive human-automation control increases. Previous studies have shown accountability to be a valuable way of eliciting human engagement and reducing various biases, but these studies have involved the presence of an authority figure during the research. The current research sought to explore the effect of accountability in the absence of an authority figure. To do this, 40 participants took part in this study by playing a microworld simulation. Half were told they would be interviewed after the simulation, and half were told data was not being collected. Eleven dependent variables were collected (accountability, number of resources shared, player score, agent score, combined score, and the six measures of the NASA- Task Load Index), of which statistical significance was found in number of resources shared, player score, and agent score. While not conclusive, the results suggest that accountability affects human-automation interactions even in the absence of an authority figure. It is suggested that future research seek to find a reliable way to measure accountability and examine how long accountability effects last.
ContributorsWilkins, Adam (Author) / Chiou, Erin K. (Thesis advisor) / Gray, Robert (Committee member) / Craig, Scotty (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
157284-Thumbnail Image.png
Description
Previous literature was reviewed in an effort to further investigate the link between notification levels of a cell phone and their effects on driver distraction. Mind-wandering has been suggested as an explanation for distraction and has been previously operationalized with oculomotor movement. Mind-wandering’s definition is debated, but in this research

Previous literature was reviewed in an effort to further investigate the link between notification levels of a cell phone and their effects on driver distraction. Mind-wandering has been suggested as an explanation for distraction and has been previously operationalized with oculomotor movement. Mind-wandering’s definition is debated, but in this research it was defined as off task thoughts that occur due to the task not requiring full cognitive capacity. Drivers were asked to operate a driving simulator and follow audio turn by turn directions while experiencing each of three cell phone notification levels: Control (no texts), Airplane (texts with no notifications), and Ringer (audio notifications). Measures of Brake Reaction Time, Headway Variability, and Average Speed were used to operationalize driver distraction. Drivers experienced higher Brake Reaction Time and Headway Variability with a lower Average Speed in both experimental conditions when compared to the Control Condition. This is consistent with previous research in the field of implying a distracted state. Oculomotor movement was measured as the percent time the participant was looking at the road. There was no significant difference between the conditions in this measure. The results of this research indicate that not, while not interacting with a cell phone, no audio notification is required to induce a state of distraction. This phenomenon was unable to be linked to mind-wandering.
ContributorsRadina, Earl (Author) / Gray, Robert (Thesis advisor) / Chiou, Erin (Committee member) / Branaghan, Russell (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
155133-Thumbnail Image.png
Description
In 2013, 1.8 million US drivers were responsible for rear-end collisions with other vehicles (NHTSA 2014), for which driver distraction has been identified as the main factor (Campbell, Smith & Najm, 2003; Knipling, Mironer, Hendricks, Tijerina, Everson, Allen & Wilson 1993; Wang, Knipling & Goodman, 1996). The ubiquity of cell

In 2013, 1.8 million US drivers were responsible for rear-end collisions with other vehicles (NHTSA 2014), for which driver distraction has been identified as the main factor (Campbell, Smith & Najm, 2003; Knipling, Mironer, Hendricks, Tijerina, Everson, Allen & Wilson 1993; Wang, Knipling & Goodman, 1996). The ubiquity of cell phones and their use behind the wheel has played a major role in distracting these drivers. To mitigate this, some manufacturers are equipping vehicles with forward collision warning (FCW) systems.

Generally, warnings that are perceived as being urgent produce lower response times. One technique for increasing perceived urgency of a warning is called looming, where the signal increases in or more dimensions over time. Looming warning signals have been shown to produce low response times, likely because the recipient perceives the signal as a potential approaching threat, prompting defensive reactions (Graziano and Cooke, 2006).

The present study evaluates the effect of veridical (intensity increases at the rate of closure with the lead vehicle) and high urgency (intensity increases at a rate of Time to Collision minus 0.5 seconds) looming FCW, as well as a static FCW, on drivers’ brake reaction times in the presence of a secondary texting task. Participants’ brake reaction times were recorded as they followed a lead car in a driving simulator, encountering multiple sudden-braking events across the five conditions (a control condition as well as four counterbalanced conditions using a secondary texting task). In the four conditions with a secondary task, participants received no FCW, static FCW, veridical FCW, and high-urgency FCW, respectively. Performance data was analyzed using a repeated measures ANOVA, and a series of pairwise comparisons were then made using Bonferroni corrected pairwise t-tests.

The presence of a visually and manually distracting secondary task (texting) seems to diminish the performance of the looming signals as compared to previous studies that did not use a distraction component. While looming FCW do seem to effectively lower BRTs when the driver is distracted, it is recommended that further research investigate the relationship between secondary task types and their respective levels of distraction, and the effectiveness of auditory looming FCW.
ContributorsBecker, Mike (Author) / Gray, Robert (Thesis advisor) / Branaghan, Russell (Committee member) / Craig, Scotty (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
154599-Thumbnail Image.png
Description
From 2001-2011, the General Aviation (GA) fatal accident rate remained unchanged (Duquette & Dorr, 2014) with an overall stagnant accident rate between 2004 and 2013. The leading cause, loss of control in flight (NTSB, 2015b & 2015c) due to pilot inability to recognize approach to stall/spin conditions (NTSB, 2015b &

From 2001-2011, the General Aviation (GA) fatal accident rate remained unchanged (Duquette & Dorr, 2014) with an overall stagnant accident rate between 2004 and 2013. The leading cause, loss of control in flight (NTSB, 2015b & 2015c) due to pilot inability to recognize approach to stall/spin conditions (NTSB, 2015b & 2016b). In 2013, there were 1,224 GA accidents in the U.S., accounting for 94% of all U.S. aviation accidents and 90% of all U.S. aviation fatalities that year (NTSB, 2015c). Aviation entails multiple challenges for pilots related to task management, procedural errors, perceptual distortions, and cognitive discrepancies. While machine errors in airplanes have continued to decrease over the years, human error still has not (NTSB, 2013).

A preliminary analysis of a PC-based, Garmin G1000 flight deck was conducted with 3 professional pilots. Analyses revealed increased task load, opportunities for distraction, confusing perceptual ques, and hindered cognitive performance. Complex usage problems were deeply ingrained in the functionality of the system, forcing pilots to use fallible work arounds, add unnecessary steps, and memorize knob turns or button pushes.

Modern computing now has the potential to free GA cockpit designs from knobs, soft keys, or limited display options. Dynamic digital displays might include changes in instrumentation or menu structuring depending on the phase of flight. Airspeed indicators could increase in size to become more salient during landing, simultaneously highlighting pitch angle on Attitude Indicators and automatically decluttering unnecessary information for landing. Likewise, Angle-of-Attack indicators demonstrate a great safety and performance advantage for pilots (Duquette & Dorr, 2014; NTSB, 2015b & 2016b), an instrument typically found in military platforms and now the Icon A5, light-sport aircraft (Icon, 2016).

How does the design of pilots’ environment—the cockpit—further influence their efficiency and effectiveness? To explore the possibilities for small aircraft displays, a participatory design investigation was conducted with 9 qualified instrument pilots. Aviators designed mock cockpits on a PC using pictorial cutouts of analog (e.g., mechanical dials) and digital (e.g., dynamic displays) controls. Data was analyzed qualitatively and compared to similar work. Finally, a template for GA displays was developed based on pilot input.
ContributorsConaway, Cody R (Author) / Gray, Robert (Thesis advisor) / Branaghan, Russell (Thesis advisor) / Gibb, Randall (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
155270-Thumbnail Image.png
Description
Driving a vehicle is a complex task that typically requires several physical interactions and mental tasks. Inattentive driving takes a driver’s attention away from the primary task of driving, which can endanger the safety of driver, passenger(s), as well as pedestrians. According to several traffic safety administration organizations, distracted and

Driving a vehicle is a complex task that typically requires several physical interactions and mental tasks. Inattentive driving takes a driver’s attention away from the primary task of driving, which can endanger the safety of driver, passenger(s), as well as pedestrians. According to several traffic safety administration organizations, distracted and inattentive driving are the primary causes of vehicle crashes or near crashes. In this research, a novel approach to detect and mitigate various levels of driving distractions is proposed. This novel approach consists of two main phases: i.) Proposing a system to detect various levels of driver distractions (low, medium, and high) using a machine learning techniques. ii.) Mitigating the effects of driver distractions through the integration of the distracted driving detection algorithm and the existing vehicle safety systems. In phase- 1, vehicle data were collected from an advanced driving simulator and a visual based sensor (webcam) for face monitoring. In addition, data were processed using a machine learning algorithm and a head pose analysis package in MATLAB. Then the model was trained and validated to detect different human operator distraction levels. In phase 2, the detected level of distraction, time to collision (TTC), lane position (LP), and steering entropy (SE) were used as an input to feed the vehicle safety controller that provides an appropriate action to maintain and/or mitigate vehicle safety status. The integrated detection algorithm and vehicle safety controller were then prototyped using MATLAB/SIMULINK for validation. A complete vehicle power train model including the driver’s interaction was replicated, and the outcome from the detection algorithm was fed into the vehicle safety controller. The results show that the vehicle safety system controller reacted and mitigated the vehicle safety status-in closed loop real-time fashion. The simulation results show that the proposed approach is efficient, accurate, and adaptable to dynamic changes resulting from the driver, as well as the vehicle system. This novel approach was applied in order to mitigate the impact of visual and cognitive distractions on the driver performance.
ContributorsAlomari, Jamil (Author) / Mayyas, AbdRaouf (Thesis advisor) / Cooke, Nancy J. (Committee member) / Gray, Robert (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
155505-Thumbnail Image.png
Description
While various collision warning studies in driving have been conducted, only a handful of studies have investigated the effectiveness of warnings with a distracted driver. Across four experiments, the present study aimed to understand the apparent gap in the literature of distracted drivers and warning effectiveness, specifically by studying various

While various collision warning studies in driving have been conducted, only a handful of studies have investigated the effectiveness of warnings with a distracted driver. Across four experiments, the present study aimed to understand the apparent gap in the literature of distracted drivers and warning effectiveness, specifically by studying various warnings presented to drivers while they were operating a smart phone. Experiment One attempted to understand which smart phone tasks, (text vs image) or (self-paced vs other-paced) are the most distracting to a driver. Experiment Two compared the effectiveness of different smartphone based applications (app’s) for mitigating driver distraction. Experiment Three investigated the effects of informative auditory and tactile warnings which were designed to convey directional information to a distracted driver (moving towards or away). Lastly, Experiment Four extended the research into the area of autonomous driving by investigating the effectiveness of different auditory take-over request signals. Novel to both Experiment Three and Four was that the warnings were delivered from the source of the distraction (i.e., by either the sound triggered at the smart phone location or through a vibration given on the wrist of the hand holding the smart phone). This warning placement was an attempt to break the driver’s attentional focus on their smart phone and understand how to best re-orient the driver in order to improve the driver’s situational awareness (SA). The overall goal was to explore these novel methods of improved SA so drivers may more quickly and appropriately respond to a critical event.
ContributorsMcNabb, Jaimie Christine (Author) / Gray, Dr. Rob (Thesis advisor) / Branaghan, Dr. Russell (Committee member) / Becker, Dr. Vaughn (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017