Ergonomics最新文献

Situation awareness (SA) is the ability to perceive, comprehend and project environmental information. Neural activity is closely associated with SA. However, it remains unclear how neural activity represents SA at different levels. Here, three tasks were used to assess SA at three levels, behavioural and electroencephalogram data were collected. Relationships between SA and neural activity were explored through comparisons of EEG power between high and low SA. For each SA level, EEG power significantly differed between high and low SA. Brain region-based analyses further revealed neural activities originating from distinct brain regions were recruited to represent SA at different levels. These EEG pattern features differed between high and low SA could be used to decode SA with the KNN (k-nearest neighbour) classifier. The present study marked a significant step in augmenting our understanding of the neural mechanism that characterise SA.

This study simulates the natural movement of plants in indoor environments to investigate whether these plants can effectively facilitate psychological, physiological, and emotional recovery from fatigue caused by short vigilance tasks. A total of 63 participants completed baseline assessments of emotional and physiological stress as well as attention and memory (including the POMS-SF, blood pressure, pulse, and Digit Span Backward). They then performed a vigilance task to induce fatigue, followed by a second measurement of stress and cognition. After random assignment to dynamic plant, static plant, or no-plant conditions for a rest intervention, participants underwent a final assessment. The results showed that all three conditions experienced significant fatigue induced by the vigilance task, with increases in stress and reductions in cognition. Following the intervention, those in the dynamic plant condition exhibited notably greater recovery across multiple indices-particularly in emotional stress and pulse-than those in the other conditions.

To investigate the optimisation scheme for a floor evacuation map, library, and mall scenarios were considered as examples, and drive designs, including non-drive design, salient stimulus-drive design, and working memory-drive design, were introduced in the experiment. Participants' wayfinding behaviour and responses were studied by analysing the average duration of fixation (ADF), average fixation counts (AFC), accuracy rate (AR), response time (RT), and other relevant indices. The experimental data revealed that both the salient stimulus-drive and working memory-drive designs significantly reduced the ADF and AFC compared to the non-drive design while improving the AR. The RT of the salient stimulus-driven group was significantly longer than that of the other two groups. The experimental results indicated that incorporating floor plans and relevant salient stimuli into the design of floor evacuation maps can enhance their readability, thereby facilitating better retention of evacuation routes by participants.

Ride-hailing and delivery work are major components of the gig economy but often involve long and unpredictable hours, making fatigue an inherent safety risk. This study aimed to identify solutions to mitigate fatigue and minimise its risk, using Indonesia as a case study. A two-stage methodology was applied: first, a scoping review identified proposed measures, then a two-day workshop with gig workers, platform companies, government representatives, and academics (n = 24) discussed their feasibility. Most identified measures were administrative in nature. Stakeholders diverged on employment status reclassification: workers supported it as a structural safeguard, whereas platform companies and government representatives resisted it due to economic and regulatory implications. Training was perceived as a feasible option by both parties. The results represent perceived feasibility rather than measured outcomes, highlighting the need for future research to evaluate real-world effectiveness, and reflect participants perspectives, with platform companies underrepresented and government voices more prominent.

Decision support systems such as explosives detection systems for cabin baggage (EDSCB) at airport security checkpoints help screeners detect bombs by highlighting areas in X-ray images that might contain explosives. However, these systems are not perfect and can produce false alarms (i.e. alarm when no target is present) and miscues (i.e. a non-target is cued but the actual target is located elsewhere in the image). This study investigated the consequences of such automation errors in 112 professional airport security screeners who were supported by a simulated EDSCB with realistic X-ray images of cabin baggage. They had to detect bombs, guns, and knives under one of three experimental conditions: miscue prone, false alarm prone, or multiple failures (false alarms and miscues). Results showed that screeners missed more knives when the EDSCB provided miscues. We conclude that on-screen alarm resolution of EDSCB alarms in primary screening has the disadvantage that miscues can result in missing prohibited articles at airport security checkpoints. To avoid this problem, automated decision or clear instructions to screeners should be considered.

Practitioner statement: Airport security screeners inspect X-ray images of cabin baggage through visual search and decision making with the help of explosives detection system for cabin baggage screening (EDSCB). The present experiment addresses whether EDSCB miscues affect operator performance and whether miscues are a problem when conducting EDSCB on-screen alarm resolution.

Ergonomics and Human Factors (E/HF) practitioners are increasingly engaged in projects meant to centre underserved communities and reduce inequities. The subdiscipline of E/HF that has emerged to explore the application of E/HF in this way is called community ergonomics. In this qualitative-descriptive study, we reflect on the progress made in the field of community ergonomics since its original conceptualisation in 1994. We present six E/HF case studies carried out in North America, South America, and Africa in a variety of community contexts to highlight the challenges of conducting community-based work. From those case studies, we synthesise six lessons learned that can be used to guide future community ergonomics projects. Finally, we provide methodological and epistemological recommendations for doing ethical community-based work, calling for E/HF practitioners to consider how their own ideologies are shaping their interactions with the communities they aim to serve.

Current testing of small-arms weapons focuses on measuring accuracy in optimal, supported positions whereas using a more dynamic test may be more informative. Previous work has shown that accuracy, shot interval, and weapon stability degrades over prolonged shooting and only the latter two measures differ between weapon configurations. The aim of the current study was to evaluate muscle activity to understand if signs of fatigue could add information about the optimal ergonomic weapon. The 200 ms of electromyography from six upper limb muscles immediately before each of 60 shots for four weapon conditions were collected from 18 participants. Both frequency and amplitude showed signs of muscle fatigue over the 60 shots for most of the muscles, and amplitude was different in some muscles between conditions. This study shows that although participants can maintain accuracy with more difficult weapon configurations, this comes at the potential cost of muscle fatigue.

This study investigates the impact of the weight and centre of mass (COM) position of Head-Mounted Displays (HMDs) on the subjective evaluation of users during prolonged wearing tasks. This study involved 88 participants completing 1860 sets of experiments under three conditions: sitting still, turning the head, and moving, providing subjective evaluations of wearing HMDs. A static torque testing device was used to simulate neck torque under flexion states. Using Aligned Rank Transform (ART) data, A Multifactor Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) was conducted to analyse the relationship between subjective comfort and the weight and centre of mass (COM) of HMDs. Using cluster analysis to classify head length and identify the relationship between head length and comfort. A Support Vector Regression (SVR) model was ultimately established, providing detailed weight range references for the engineering design of HMDs.

To enhance the convenience of human body 3D modelling, this study proposes a low-cost method for 3D body reconstruction under limited views, aiming to easily acquire client body size information through smart phone photography. The human body photos of the front, side and back view are captured, and background removal is performed using the U²-Net human segmentation model. The PIFuHD model is utilised to obtain single-view point cloud patches, which are then mapped onto 2D images. A point cloud registration approach that incorporates regional segmentation and contour supervision is employed to reconstruct a complete human body model. B-spline curves are employed to fit key girths for obtaining perimeter measurements, and the effectiveness of girth measurements is validated using body data from 80 subjects. The results indicate that the proposed method exhibits closer proximity to manual measurements compared to 3D scanning, with average absolute errors within 2 cm.

In a novel, on-road study, using a 'Ghost Driver' to emulate an automated vehicle (AV), we captured over 10 hours of video (n = 520) and 64 survey responses documenting the behaviour and attitudes of pedestrians in response to the AV. Three prototype external human-machine interfaces (eHMIs) described the AV's behaviour, awareness and intention using elements of anthropomorphism: High (human face), Low (car motif), Abstract (partial representation of human features that lacked precise visual reference); these were evaluated against a (no eHMI) baseline. Despite many pedestrians reporting that they still relied on vehicular cues to negotiate their crossing, there was a desire/expectation expressed for explicit communication with future AVs. High and Low anthropomorphism eHMIs received the most positive responses for clarity, confidence and trust, with High also attracting significantly more/longer glances and the highest preference rating. In contrast, Abstract was considered least clear and subsequently invited the lowest confidence and trust ratings.