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Abstract:
We interact with machines on a daily basis and with none as intricately as with transport vehicles. Automobiles and aircraft greatly extend our capacity for physical mobility. Indeed, it is remarkable that our natural perceptual and motor capabilities are able to adapt, with sufficient training, to the high demands posed by the handling of such machines. Much progress has been achieved in formalizing the control relationship between the human operator and the controlled vehicle, particularly within a closed-loop control framework. In comparison, much less is understood with regards to how human cognition influences this control relationship. This is especially important in the prevalence of autonomous vehicular control, which will radically modify the responsibility of the human operator from one of control to supervision. In this talk, I will begin by demonstrating how a classical cybernetics approach reveals the necessity of understanding high-level cognition during control, such as anticipation and expertise. Next, I will present our research that relies on unobtrusive measurement techniques (i.e., gaze-tracking, EEG/ERP) to understand how human operators seek out and process relevant information whilst steering. I will provide some examples from my lab to demonstrate how such findings can effectively contribute to the development of human-centered technology in the steering domain, such as warning cues and shared haptic control. Finally, I will present our efforts towards making flying as easy as driving by modeling and simulating a personal aerial vehicle (PAV) that will enable non-experts to achieve equivalent control performance as highly-trained helicopter pilots.
