TY - JOUR
T1 - Exploring the Influence of Human System Interfaces
T2 - Introducing Support Tools and an Experimental Study
AU - Amazu, Chidera W.
AU - Mietkiewicz, Joseph
AU - Abbas, Ammar N.
AU - Briwa, Houda
AU - Alonso-Perez, Andres
AU - Baldissone, Gabriele
AU - Fissore, Davide
AU - Demichela, Micaela
AU - Leva, Maria Chiara
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
PY - 2024
Y1 - 2024
N2 - Situational awareness and decision support tools such as procedures and alarm systems are vital for effective interaction among control room operators, especially in safety-critical situations. In safety-critical environments such as process plants, there remains a gap in evaluating specific tools during actual operations, or ”work-as-done.” Additionally, the underlying factors that might impact operators’ cognitive states and performance concerning safety have not been thoroughly explored. The need for such an evaluation is further bolstered by current interaction configurations where operators are more passive than active, thus reducing their cognitive performance. Therefore, this experimental study addresses the highlighted evaluation gap by introducing and comparing three human system interfaces/decision support tools in four human-in-the-loop configurations. The supports include two alarm design formats (prioritized vs. non-prioritized) and three procedure representation formats (paper, screen-based digitized, and an AI-based support system built with an integrated Bayesian network and reinforcement learning model). Ninety-two people (n = 92) participated voluntarily in the test. They were divided equally into four groups. Each group tested three safety-related events in a simulated formaldehyde production facility. Individuals belonging to the group with prioritized alarms and utilized paper procedures rated procedural support slightly higher on average than others in different groups. Unlike the other groups, their assessment of alarm prioritization support remained consistent across all scenarios. Further analysis of the impact of the setup on cognitive states and actual performance will be performed.
AB - Situational awareness and decision support tools such as procedures and alarm systems are vital for effective interaction among control room operators, especially in safety-critical situations. In safety-critical environments such as process plants, there remains a gap in evaluating specific tools during actual operations, or ”work-as-done.” Additionally, the underlying factors that might impact operators’ cognitive states and performance concerning safety have not been thoroughly explored. The need for such an evaluation is further bolstered by current interaction configurations where operators are more passive than active, thus reducing their cognitive performance. Therefore, this experimental study addresses the highlighted evaluation gap by introducing and comparing three human system interfaces/decision support tools in four human-in-the-loop configurations. The supports include two alarm design formats (prioritized vs. non-prioritized) and three procedure representation formats (paper, screen-based digitized, and an AI-based support system built with an integrated Bayesian network and reinforcement learning model). Ninety-two people (n = 92) participated voluntarily in the test. They were divided equally into four groups. Each group tested three safety-related events in a simulated formaldehyde production facility. Individuals belonging to the group with prioritized alarms and utilized paper procedures rated procedural support slightly higher on average than others in different groups. Unlike the other groups, their assessment of alarm prioritization support remained consistent across all scenarios. Further analysis of the impact of the setup on cognitive states and actual performance will be performed.
KW - decision support
KW - Human–machine interaction
KW - process control rooms
KW - psychophysiological measures
KW - situational awareness
KW - stress
KW - workload
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85198853963&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/10447318.2024.2376354
DO - 10.1080/10447318.2024.2376354
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85198853963
SN - 1044-7318
JO - International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction
JF - International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction
ER -