Dekker (Cogn Tech Work, doi:
10.1007/s10111-015-0320-8
, 2015) provides a stilted account of situation awareness (SA) in which it is only (or primarily) used to explain away human error. He ignores ...the large body of work over the past 25 years that has clearly defined SA, builds a strong foundation of cognitive theory on how it works in the brain, and provides a substantial base of scientifically grounded principles for how to improve SA through improvements in display design, automation, and training (see Endsley and Jones, Designing for situation awareness: an approach to human-centered design, 2nd edn. Taylor and Francis, London, 2012). He also ignores work on human error that delves in detail into the reasons for losses of SA in accidents and uses that knowledge to provide needed system improvements. SA is widely recognized by operators and practitioners across aviation, power systems, emergency management, military, medical, and many other domains as being critical to effective decision making and performance. It is incumbent on the human factors profession to respond to this need with improved systems and approaches for enhancing SA in the difficult and complex worlds where it is so essential.
The concept of different levels of automation (LOAs) has been pervasive in the automation literature since its introduction by Sheridan and Verplanck. LOA taxonomies have been very useful in guiding ...understanding of how automation affects human cognition and performance, with several practical and theoretical benefits. Over the past several decades a wide body of research has been conducted on the impact of various LOAs on human performance, workload, and situation awareness (SA). LOA has a significant effect on operator SA and level of engagement that helps to ameliorate out-of-the-loop performance problems. Together with other aspects of system design, including adaptive automation, granularity of control, and automation interface design, LOA is a fundamental design characteristic that determines the ability of operators to provide effective oversight and interaction with system autonomy. LOA research provides a solid foundation for guiding the creation of effective human–automation interaction, which is critical for the wide range of autonomous and semiautonomous systems currently being developed across many industries.
Situation awareness (SA) is critical for decision making and performance in a wide variety of fields. It is quite challenging to achieve however, due to information overload, poorly integrated ...technologies, system complexity, workload, and automation. SA-oriented design (SAOD) was developed as a systematic methodology for addressing these challenges. The goal of the current paper is to review the contribution of SAOD and its usefulness for system design. SAOD is summarized and compared to other design approaches. An example of SAOD applied to command and control is provided. Results of SAOD applications are reviewed and directions for further development of SAOD are presented.
X-ray polarimetry promises to give qualitatively new information about high-energy astrophysical sources, such as binary black hole systems, micro-quasars, active galactic nuclei, neutron stars, and ...gamma-ray bursts. We designed, built and tested a X-ray polarimeter, X-Calibur, to be used in the focal plane of the balloon-borne InFOCμS grazing incidence X-ray telescope. X-Calibur combines a low-Z scatterer with a Cadmium Zinc Telluride (CZT) detector assembly to measure the polarization of 20–80 keV X-rays making use of the fact that polarized photons scatter preferentially perpendicular to the electric field orientation. X-Calibur achieves a high detection efficiency of ≃80%. The X-Calibur detector assembly is completed, tested, and fully calibrated. The response to a polarized X-ray beam was measured successfully at the Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source. This paper describes the design, calibration and performance of the X-Calibur polarimeter. In principle, a similar space-borne scattering polarimeter could operate over the broader 2–100 keV energy band.
ABSTRACT
Before the end of the Epoch of Reionization, the Hydrogen in the Universe was predominantly neutral. This leads to a strong attenuation of Ly α lines of z ≳ 6 galaxies in the intergalactic ...medium. Nevertheless, Ly α has been detected up to very high redshifts (z ∼ 9) for several especially UV luminous galaxies. Here, we test to what extent the galaxy’s local environment might impact the Ly α transmission of such sources. We present an analysis of dedicated Hubble Space Telescope (HST) imaging in the CANDELS/EGS field to search for fainter neighbours around three of the most UV luminous and most distant spectroscopically confirmed Ly α emitters: EGS-zs8-1, EGS-zs8-2, and EGSY-z8p7 at zspec = 7.73, 7.48, and 8.68, respectively. We combine the multiwavelength HST imaging with Spitzer data to reliably select z ∼ 7–9 galaxies around the central, UV-luminous sources. In all cases, we find a clear enhancement of neighbouring galaxies compared to the expected number in a blank field (by a factor ∼3–9×). Our analysis thus reveals ubiquitous overdensities around luminous Ly α emitting sources in the heart of the cosmic reionization epoch. We show that our results are in excellent agreement with expectations from the Dragons simulation, confirming the theoretical prediction that the first ionized bubbles preferentially formed in overdense regions. While three UV luminous galaxies already have spectroscopic redshifts, the majority of the remaining fainter, surrounding sources are yet to be confirmed via spectroscopy. JWST follow-up observations of the neighbouring galaxies identified here will thus be needed to confirm their physical association and to map out the ionized regions produced by these sources.
Accurate situation awareness (SA) of medical staff is integral for providing optimal performance during the treatment of patients. An understanding of SA and how it affects treatment of patients is ...therefore crucial for patient safety and an essential element for research on human factors in anesthesia. This review describes the concept of SA in the anesthesia environment, including the interaction with associated medical teams. Different approaches for its assessment in the work environment of anesthesia are provided. Factors contributing to expertise in SA are described and approaches for the training of SA in anesthesia are discussed, as are types of errors that occur during the development of SA. Finally, the authors briefly present strategies to improve SA during daily anesthesia practice through altered designs of monitor displays.
Final Reflections Endsley, Mica R.
Journal of cognitive engineering and decision making,
03/2015, Letnik:
9, Številka:
1
Journal Article
A response is provided to the many authors who commented on my initial paper for this special issue on situation awareness (SA) addressing remaining questions and observations on the Endsley 1995 ...model of SA. A discussion on historical perspectives on cognitive engineering and SA is included, along with future research needs for the construct. New models on sensemaking, distributed SA, and situated SA are also discussed, with remaining comments on their differences with the Endsley 1995 model of SA. Finally, a short discussion of SA measurement approaches is provided, addressing key issues raised in the commentaries.
This paper extends previous research on two approaches to human-centred automation: (1) intermediate levels of automation (LOAs) for maintaining operator involvement in complex systems control and ...facilitating situation awareness; and (2) adaptive automation (AA) for managing operator workload through dynamic control allocations between the human and machine over time. Some empirical research has been conducted to examine LOA and AA independently, with the objective of detailing a theory of human-centred automation. Unfortunately, no previous work has studied the interaction of these two approaches, nor has any research attempted to systematically determine which LOAs should be used in adaptive systems and how certain types of dynamic function allocations should be scheduled over time. The present research briefly reviews the theory of human-centred automation and LOA and AA approaches. Building on this background, an initial study was presented that attempts to address the conjuncture of these two approaches to human-centred automation. An experiment was conducted in which a dual-task scenario was used to assess the performance, SA and workload effects of low, intermediate and high LOAs, which were dynamically allocated (as part of an AA strategy) during manual system control for various cycle times comprising 20, 40 and 60% of task time. The LOA and automation allocation cycle time (AACT) combinations were compared to completely manual control and fully automated control of a dynamic control task performed in conjunction with an embedded secondary monitoring task. Results revealed LOA to be the driving factor in determining primary task performance and SA. Low-level automation produced superior performance and intermediate LOAs facilitated higher SA, but this was not associated with improved performance or reduced workload. The AACT was the driving factor in perceptions of primary task workload and secondary task performance. When a greater percentage of primary task time was automated, operator perceptual resources were freed-up and monitoring performance on the secondary task improved. Longer automation cycle times than have previously been studied may have benefits for overall human-machine system performance. The combined effect of LOA and AA on all measures did not appear to be 'additive' in nature. That is, the LOA producing the best performance (low level automation) did not do so at the AACT, which produced superior performance (maximum cycle time). In general, the results are supportive of intermediate LOAs and AA as approaches to human-centred automation, but each appears to provide different benefits to human-machine system performance. This work provides additional information for a developing theory of human-centred automation.
System autonomy and AI are being developed for a wide variety of applications where they will likely work in tandem with people, forming human-AI teams (HAT). Situation awareness (SA) of autonomous ...systems and AI has been established as critical for effective interaction and oversight of these systems. As AI capabilities grow, and more effective teaming behaviors are expected of AI systems, there will also be an increased need for shared SA between the human and AI teammates. Methods for supporting team SA within HAT are discussed in terms of team SA requirements, team SA mechanisms, team SA displays and team SA processes. A framework for understanding the types of information that needs to be shared within HAT is provided, including a focus on taskwork SA, agent SA, and teamwork SA. AI based on learning systems creates new challenges for the development of good SA and mental models. AI transparency and explainability are discussed in terms of their separate roles for supporting SA and mental models in HAT. The SA Oriented Design (SAOD) process is described as a systematic methodology for developing transparent AI displays for HAT and an example of its application to automated driving in a Tesla is provided.
•Situation awareness (SA) is critical for effective interaction with AI systems.•Human-AI team performance requires taskwork SA, agent SA, and teamwork SA.•SA is best supported by AI display transparency that is current and prospective.•Explainable AI is primarily retrospective and directed at building mental models.•SA Oriented Design (SAOD) is a systematic process for developing transparent AI.
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