My brain is out of the loop: A neuroergonomic approach of OOTL phenomenon

Abstract

The world surrounding us has become increasingly technological. Nowadays, the influence of automation is perceived in each aspect of everyday life and not only in the world of industry. Automation certainly makes some aspects of life easier, faster and safer. Nonetheless, empirical data suggests that traditional automation has many negative performance and safety consequences. Particularly, in cases of automatic equipment failure, human supervisors seemed effectively helpless to diagnose the situation, determine the appropriate solution and retake control, a set of difficulties called the “out-of-the-loop” (OOL) performance problem. Because automation is not powerful enough to handle all abnormalities, this difficulty in “takeover” is a central problem in automation design. The OOL performance problem represents a key challenge for both systems designers and human factor society. After decades of research, this phenomenon remains difficult to grasp and treat and recent tragic accidents remind us the difficulty for human operator to interact with highly automated system. The general objective of our research project is to improve our comprehension of the OOL performance problem. To address this issue, we aim (1) to identify the neuro-functional correlates of the OOL performance problem, (2) to propose design recommendations to optimize human-automation interaction and decrease OOL performance problem occurrence. Behavioral data and brain imaging studies will be used to provide a better understanding of this phenomenon at both physiological and psychological levels.