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Mitigating Vigilance Decrement: Evaluation of Technological Interventions.

Author
Akre, Sagar
Abstract
Abstract
Objective: The objective of this research was to investigate whether administration of various
technological interventions during rest breaks would improve performance on post-break trials of
an abbreviated vigilance task. Background: While previous studies have indicated the efficacy of
rest breaks for restoring vigilance performance, few studies have been conducted on potential
mitigate strategies. Attention Restoration Theory, which proposes that performance on sustained
attention tasks may be restored in some part by interaction with nature, provides a useful
framework for investigating potential mitigation strategies, access to nature is limited in many
work environments. Therefore, the current study examines whether natural stimuli presented via
4k UHDTV’s and virtual reality head mounted displays during short rest breaks would help to
restore performance on subsequent tasks of an abbreviated vigilance task. Method: 45 Participants
were asked to 2 trials of an abbreviated vigilance task (AVT) with a short 4-minute rest break in between
the two trials. During the rest break, participants experienced one of three of the following
conditions: 1) control: standard rest break with no stimuli; 2) Virtual Reality: rest break in which
participants viewed a natural scene using a HMD 3) Television: rest break in which participants
viewed the same scene on a UHDTV. Results: While no significant differences were found
between groups regarding reaction time, participants in the virtual reality condition had
significantly higher accuracy on post-break trials of the AVT when compared to control and
television conditions. Conclusion: Using virtual reality during rest breaks as a medium by which
to mitigate vigilance decrement may prove to be useful in reducing errors in semi-automated
human machine systems. Application: Findings from the current study may be applied to a variety
of industries in which human operators are tasked with maintaining prolonged periods of vigilance
in the lookout for critical signals.
Date Issued
2017-08-30Subject
Psychology; Design; Attention Restoration; Human Factors; Human Performance; Technology; Vigilance Decrement; Virtual Reality
Committee Chair
Yoon, So-Yeon
Committee Member
Sagha Zadeh, Rana
Degree Discipline
Design and Environmental Analysis
Degree Name
M.S., Design and Environmental Analysis
Degree Level
Master of Science
Type
dissertation or thesis