Members of the UW driving simulator laboratory, including (from left to right) John D. Lee (PI), Mahtab Ghazizadeh, Joonbum Lee, David A. Noyce (PI), Bobbie D. Seppelt, and Andrea Bill.

John Lee
3150 Mechanical Engineering Building

The Cognitive Systems Laboratory (CSL) focuses on cognitive engineering, where the challenge is to understand and improve the capacity of joint human-technology systems. This research has considered technology insertion in the maritime industry, ground transportation, tele-operation, and process control. A specific example is the distraction potential of in-vehicle information systems, such as cellular telephones and e-mail.

A Realtime Technologies driving simulator equipped with a Ford Fusion Cab, 1 degree-of-freedom pitch motion base, and 240 degrees of computer-generated scenery (powered by six projectors, eight-foot-tall screens and several LCD monitors). The 240-degree arc of projector screens and a surround sound system simulate the visual and auditory experience of driving on-road. Movement and vibration that accompany on-road driving are produced from the motion platform.

Another example is the role of trust and appropriate reliance in the supervisory control of automation, such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). In each of these examples, the ultimate goal is to develop computational models of human performance and design principles that can support effective and humane use of technology.

The common theme of understanding how technology mediates peoples' attention integrates CSL's research across the varied research domains of maritime navigation, process control, and driving. Technology-mediated attention builds upon the basic psychological concepts of attention to understand how technology must be shaped so that people attend to the right thing at the right time and respond appropriately.

An understanding of how technology can mediate attention is used to create display and control systems that enable people to work effectively with increasingly sophisticated technology.

Students in the CSL learn how to conduct experiments in microworld and simulator environments (the figure below shows an example of a microworld in development). They also learn techniques of computational cognitive engineering to model joint human-technology behavior, estimate the state of the operator, and to enhance data interpretation.

Unmanned Vehicle (UV) Planning Aid, developed in collaboration with MIT's Humans and Automation Lab. Overlays indicate planning algorithm variables to inform operators of automation's decision procedure based on its operational context to improve operator reliance.