Cognitive Virtualization: Combining Cognitive Models and Virtual Environments

Conference · Wed Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 2007

OSTI ID:919560

Tran, Tuan Q; Gertman, David I; Dudenhoeffer, Donald D; Boring, Ronald L; Mecham, Alan R

3D manikins are often used in visualizations to model human activity in complex settings. Manikins assist in developing understanding of human actions, movements and routines in a variety of different environments representing new conceptual designs. One such environment is a nuclear power plant control room, here they have the potential to be used to simulate more precise ergonomic assessments of human work stations. Next generation control rooms will pose numerous challenges for system designers. The manikin modeling approach by itself, however, may be insufficient for dealing with the desired technical advancements and challenges of next generation automated systems. Uncertainty regarding effective staffing levels; and the potential for negative human performance consequences in the presence of advanced automated systems (e.g., reduced vigilance, poor situation awareness, mistrust or blind faith in automation, higher information load and increased complexity) call for further research. Baseline assessment of novel control room equipment(s) and configurations needs to be conducted. These design uncertainties can be reduced through complementary analysis that merges ergonomic manikin models with models of higher cognitive functions, such as attention, memory, decision-making, and problem-solving. This paper will discuss recent advancements in merging a theoretical-driven cognitive modeling framework within a 3D visualization modeling tool to evaluate of next generation control room human factors and ergonomic assessment. Though this discussion primary focuses on control room design, the application for such a merger between 3D visualization and cognitive modeling can be extended to various areas of focus such as training and scenario planning.

• Research Organization: Idaho National Laboratory (INL)
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE - NE
• DOE Contract Number: AC07-99ID13727
• OSTI ID: 919560
• Report Number(s): INL/CON-07-12784
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

3D Visualization
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS
Advance Control Room
CONTROL ROOMS
Cognitive Modeling
DECISION MAKING
HUMAN FACTORS
HUMAN FACTORS ENGINEERING
NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS