Researchers at the Suor Orsola Benincasa University of Naples, Italy, are working with Technalia on improving human-machine communications, with the aim of minimising miscommunications between humans and machines in critical applications such as aeronautics.
Communications is based on a number of components: transmitter, receiver, code, message, channel and context. As the digital world becomes more and more hyperconnected, with elements such as the Internet of Things, and increased interactivity, the aeronautics industry faces the possibility that multiple pilots, air traffic controllers and semi-autonomous systems like auto-pilots and flight management systems will need to communicate with each other and coordinate their actions in a cooperative and highly adaptable manner.
While current systems are capable of handling the interaction between one human and one machine, the complexity around communications drastically increases when many machines and many operators are involved.
Central to this would be correct communication and mutual adaptability that would guarantee that all sides understand the message being communicated, in order to efficiently achieve tasks while maintaining safety.
The project to develop these adaptive cooperative human-machine systems (ADCOS) is called HoliDes. It involves a number of broad broad areas.
The first is to specify patterns of human behaviour, using a tool called a "Pilot Pattern Classifier". With sensors and algorithms, the system measures the behaviour of a pilot, in order to establish and personalise predictive models in real time, that indicate things like fatigue and distraction. Sensors that would be fitted to the pilot include brain wave readers, eye trackers, heart rate trackers, sweat detection and other biometric measurements.
This sensor data from the pilot will be combined with big data consisting of experimental results from flight simulators, interviews with pilots, questionnaires, etc.
Another area of the project is to create a standardised vocabulary, so all the systems can understand each other. This involves creating an ontology that models human factors, allowing the systems to seamlessly communicate and work around the human behaviour.
Finally, the project will involve coming up with a system of communication so both humans and machines are able to understand each other. This involves considerations around how information is presented, the visual aspects, information architecture, colours and user interfaces, as well as acoustic and tactile aspects of communication.