Measurement of Electrodermal Activity to Evaluate the Impact of Environmental Complexity on Driver Workload

2012 ◽  
pp. 245-256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Seitz ◽  
Thomas J. Daun ◽  
Andreas Zimmermann ◽  
Markus Lienkamp
Keyword(s):  
Electrodermal Activity ◽  
Environmental Complexity ◽  
Driver Workload ◽  
The Impact

Physiological Indicators of Driver Workload During Car-Following Scenarios and Takeovers in Highly Automated Driving

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vishnu Radhakrishnan ◽  
Natasha Merat ◽  
Tyron Louw ◽  
Rafael Goncalves ◽  
Wei Lyu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Driving Simulator ◽  
Electrodermal Activity ◽  
Automated Driving ◽  
Physiological Indicators ◽  
Car Following ◽  
Time Headway ◽  
Driver Workload ◽  
Driving Task ◽  
Vehicle Automation ◽  
Lead Vehicle

This driving simulator study, conducted as a part of Horizon2020-funded L3Pilot project, investigated how different car-following situations affected driver workload, within the context of vehicle automation. Electrocardiogram (ECG) and electrodermal activity (EDA)-based physiological metrics were used as objective indicators of workload, along with self-reported workload ratings. A total of 32 drivers were divided into two equal groups, based on whether they engaged in a non-driving related task (NDRT) during automation or monitored the drive. Drivers in both groups were exposed to two counterbalanced experimental drives, lasting ~18 minutes each, of Short (0.5 s) and Long (1.5 s) Time Headway conditions during automated car-following (ACF), which was followed by a takeover that happened with or without a lead vehicle. We observed that the workload on the driver due to the NDRT was significantly higher than both monitoring the drive during ACF and manual car-following (MCF). Furthermore, the results indicated that shorter THWs and the presence of a lead vehicle can significantly increase driver workload during takeover scenarios, potentially affecting the safety of the vehicle. This warrants further research into understanding safe time headway thresholds to be maintained by automated vehicles, without placing additional mental or attentional demands on the driver. To conclude, our results indicated that ECG and EDA signals are sensitive to variations in workload, and hence, warrants further investigation on the value of combining these two signals to assess driver workload in real-time, to help the system respond appropriately to the limitations of the driver and predict their performance in driving task if and when they have to resume manual control of the vehicle.

Artificial Discretion as a Tool of Governance: A Framework for Understanding the Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Public Administration

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew M Young ◽  
Justin B Bullock ◽  
Jesse D Lecy
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Public Administration ◽  
Public Management ◽  
Information Communication ◽  
Environmental Complexity ◽  
Task Specificity ◽  
Political Feasibility ◽  
Public Managers ◽  
New Information ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Public administration research has documented a shift in the locus of discretion away from street-level bureaucrats to “systems-level bureaucracies” as a result of new information communication technologies that automate bureaucratic processes, and thus shape access to resources and decisions around enforcement and punishment. Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) are accelerating these trends, potentially altering discretion in public management in exciting and in challenging ways. We introduce the concept of “artificial discretion” as a theoretical framework to help public managers consider the impact of AI as they face decisions about whether and how to implement it. We operationalize discretion as the execution of tasks that require nontrivial decisions. Using Salamon’s tools of governance framework, we compare artificial discretion to human discretion as task specificity and environmental complexity vary. We evaluate artificial discretion with the criteria of effectiveness, efficiency, equity, manageability, and political feasibility. Our analysis suggests three principal ways that artificial discretion can improve administrative discretion at the task level: (1) increasing scalability, (2) decreasing cost, and (3) improving quality. At the same time, artificial discretion raises serious concerns with respect to equity, manageability, and political feasibility.

scholarly journals Impacts of environmental complexity on respiratory and gut microbiome community structure and diversity in growing pigs

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ameer Megahed ◽  
Mohamed Zeineldin ◽  
Kaleigh Evans ◽  
Nidia Maradiaga ◽  
Ben Blair ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Microbial Community ◽  
Gut Microbiota ◽  
Animal Health ◽  
Growing Pigs ◽  
Housing System ◽  
Environmental Complexity ◽  
Rearing Environment ◽  
Growing Pig ◽  
Α Diversity ◽  
The Impact

Abstract The limited understanding of the interaction between rearing environment of the growing pig and the pig’s microbial community impedes efforts to identify the optimal housing system to maximize animal health and production. Accordingly, we characterized the impact of housing complexity on shaping the respiratory and gut microbiota of growing pig. A total of 175 weaned pigs from 25 litters were randomly assigned within liter to either simple slatted-floor (S) or complex straw-based rearing ecosystem (C). Beside the floor swabs samples, fecal swabs and mucosal scraping samples from bronchus, ileum, and colon were collected approximately 164 days post-weaning at the time of slaughter. The S ecosystem seems to increase the α-diversity of respiratory and gut microbiota. Moreover, the C-raised pigs showed 35.4, 89.2, and 60.0% reduction in the Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio than the S-raised pigs at bronchus, ileum, and colon, respectively. The unfavorable taxa Psychrobacter, Corynebacterium, Actinobacteria, and Neisseria were the signature taxa of C environment-associated microbial community. Therefore, the microbiota of S-raised pigs seems to show higher density of the most essential and beneficial taxa than the C-raised pigs. We preliminarily conclude that increasing the physical complexity of rearing environment seems to provide suboptimal conditions for establishing a healthy microbial community in the growing pigs.

scholarly journals The impact of the sonic logo’s acoustic features on orienting responses, emotions and brand personality transmission

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lluis Mas ◽  
Paul Bolls ◽  
Emma Rodero ◽  
Miguel Barreda-Ángeles ◽  
Ashley Churchill
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Personality Traits ◽  
Electrodermal Activity ◽  
Brand Personality ◽  
Orient Response ◽  
Noisy Environment ◽  
Acoustic Features ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Fast Pace ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this study is to determine how sonic logo’s acoustic features (intensity, pitch and pace) based on melodic tunes with no voice orient the response of consumers, attract attention, elicit levels of pleasantness and calmness and transmit brand personality traits. Design/methodology/approach A within-subject experimental factorial design is applied to measure emotional arousal (indexed as electrodermal activity) and enhancement on perceptual processing (indexed as heart rate), as well as self-reported factors, namely, calmness/excitement, pleasantness and brand personality scales. Findings Results show a significant increase on electrodermal activity associated with fast-paced sonic logos and a decrease in heart rate in slow-paced long sonic logos. Also, fade-up, pitch-ascending fast sonic logos are defined as more exciting and descending-pitch sonic logos as more pleasant. Research limitations/implications The use of sonic logos with no voice does limit its implications. Besides, the use of three variables simultaneously with 18 versions of sonic logos in a laboratory setting may have driven participants to fatigue; hence, findings should be cautiously applied. Practical implications First, sonic logos are best processed in a fade-up form. Second, fast pace is recommended to orient response, whereas slow pace is recommended to transmit calmness. Practitioners may opt for fast-paced sonic logos if the design is new or played in a noisy environment and opt for slow-paced sonic logos in already highly recognized sound designs. Originality/value To the best of authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to combine psychophysiological measures and self-reported scales in a laboratory experiment on how sonic logo’s acoustic features orient response, transmit emotions and personality traits.

scholarly journals Microhabitat Variability in Human Evolution

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Patalano ◽  
Rebecca Hamilton ◽  
Emma Finestone ◽  
Noel Amano ◽  
Phoebe Heddell-Stevens ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Variability ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Vegetation Change ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Regional Climate ◽  
Environmental Complexity ◽  
Linear Behavior ◽  
Climate Shifts ◽  
Landscape Response ◽  
The Impact

Climate variability and hominin evolution are inextricably linked. Yet, hypotheses examining the impact of large-scale climate shifts on hominin landscape ecology are often constrained by proxy data coming from off-site lake and ocean cores and temporal offsets between paleoenvironmental and archaeological records. Additionally, landscape response data (most commonly, records of vegetation change), are often used as a climate proxy. This is problematic as it assumes that vegetation change signifies global or regional climate shifts without accounting for the known non-linear behavior of ecological systems and the often-significant spatial heterogeneity in habitat structure and response. The exploitation of diverse, rapidly changing habitats by Homo by at least two million years ago highlights that the ability to adapt to landscapes in flux had emerged by the time of our genus’ African origin. To understand ecosystem response to climate variability, and hominin adaptations to environmental complexity and ecological diversity, we need cross-disciplinary datasets in direct association with stratified archaeological and fossil assemblages at a variety of temporal and spatial scales. In this article, we propose a microhabitat variability framework for understanding Homo’s adaptability to fluctuating climates, environments, and resource bases. We argue that the exploitation of microhabitats, or unique ecologically and geographically defined areas within larger habitats and ecoregions, was a key skill that allowed Homo to adapt to multiple climates zones and ecoregions within and beyond Africa throughout the Pleistocene.

scholarly journals Milking it for all it's worth: The effects of environmental enrichment on maternal nurturance, lactation quality, and offspring social behavior

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Holly DeRosa ◽  
Hieu Tran ◽  
Amanda C Kentner
Keyword(s):  
Social Behavior ◽  
Animal Models ◽  
Environmental Enrichment ◽  
Sprague Dawley ◽  
Environmental Complexity ◽  
Mature Milk ◽  
Offspring Development ◽  
Sprague Dawley Rats ◽  
Microbiome Diversity ◽  
The Impact

While alterations in the neonatal environment can have dramatic effects on offspring outcomes, the mechanisms that drive this phenomenon remain unclear. Breastfeeding confers robust benefits to offspring development, including those related to growth, immunity, and neurophysiology. Similarly, improving environmental complexity (i.e., environmental enrichment; EE) contributes developmental advantages to both humans and laboratory animal models. However, the impact of environmental context on maternal care and milk quality has not been thoroughly evaluated, nor are the biological underpinnings of EE on offspring development understood. Here, Sprague-Dawley rats were housed and bred in either EE or standard-housed (SD) conditions. Although EE dams gave birth to a larger number of pups, litters were standardized and cross-fostered across groups on postnatal day (P)1. Maternal milk samples were then collected on P1 (transitional milk phase) and P10 (mature milk phase) for analysis. While EE dams spent less time nursing, postnatal enrichment exposure was associated with heavier offspring bodyweights. Moreover, milk from EE dams had increased triglyceride levels compared to SD dams. Milk from EE mothers also contained a greater microbiome diversity and a significantly higher abundance of bacterial families related to bodyweight and energy metabolism. In addition to changes in lactational quality, we observed sex- and time-dependent effects of EE on offspring social behavior. Specifically, prenatal EE exposure was associated with greater sociability in females, while postnatal EE was associated with greater sociability in male offspring. Together, these results underscore the multidimensional impact of the combined neonatal and maternal environments on offspring development. These data also identify potential deficiencies in the quality of the "gold standard" laboratory housing condition and its impact on the welfare and design of translationally relevant animal models in biomedical research.

Physiological Validation of the 360° Panorama in HMD, for Research and Design of Engineering Classrooms

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan Luis Higuera-Trujillo ◽  
Carmen Llinares ◽  
Juan-Carlos Rojas ◽  
Gerardo Muniz
Keyword(s):  
Electrodermal Activity ◽  
Sense Of Presence ◽  
Classroom Space ◽  
Head Mounted Displays ◽  
Educational Spaces ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Educational Applications ◽  
Environmental Simulations ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Research And Design

Abstract Classroom design has a significant impact on curriculum development and student motivation. To study the impact of classroom space on students, environmental simulations are often. Due to its relative accessibility, the set-up of 360° panoramas formats shown through head-mounted displays (HMD) stands out. However, this set-up does not have a physiological validation (a physical-simulated comparison) for the specific case of educational spaces. A laboratory fieldwork was developed to address this lack. Participants performed tasks in a classroom or in its virtual replica, in a counterbalanced way. The sample was made up of 40 university students. While the participants performed these tasks, their heart rate variability (HRV) and electrodermal activity (EDA) were recorded. Four physiological metrics were extracted from these records, which quantified the participants’ experience in both the virtual and physical classrooms. Complementarily, the sense of presence was quantified, according to the SUS questionnaire. Regarding the level of presence, the average level generated by the virtual simulation of the classroom was relatively high. Regarding the physiological response, no differences were found in any of the metrics studied. In conclusion, this supports the findings obtained through studies that use this set-up and the development of educational applications based on these technologies.

scholarly journals Safety evaluation of freeway interchange merging areas based on driver workload theory

2020 ◽  
Vol 103 (3) ◽  
pp. 003685042094087
Author(s):  
Jiangbi Hu ◽  
Lucheng He ◽  
Ronghua Wang
Keyword(s):  
Field Experiments ◽  
Safety Evaluation ◽  
Dynamic Risk ◽  
Independent Field ◽  
Dynamic Risk Management ◽  
Driving Risk ◽  
Traffic Conflicts ◽  
Driver Workload ◽  
Speed Prediction ◽  
The Impact

Prior safety evaluations of interchange merging areas have mostly focused on traffic conflicts and operating speeds, without considering how these factors can influence the driver workload. Researches regarding the level of driver workload have largely concentrated on urban roads, tunnel sections, and basic freeway segments, without considering the impact of merging traffic flows on safety. Therefore, this study has investigated how merging vehicles can impact through-driver workload and safety. Three independent field experiments were conducted on freeways, involving 18 drivers and 17 interchanges. The results showed that the vehicles merging onto freeway impact driver workload and driving performance, generating potential risk that cannot be ignored. Merging into the mainline traffic flow increases the through-driver workload to a higher level or even exceeds the safety threshold, despite there being better geometrical conditions of interchanges than those of basic freeway segments. When the volume of merging vehicles exceeds 564 pcu/h or the traffic saturation is above 0.485, driver workload rises above the safety thresholds and the driving risk is elevated, which potentially would lead to crashes. This study offers insights for more effective segment division of operating speed prediction, and dynamic risk management with regard to interchange safety.

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