Much contemporary computing is done in multitasking environments in which multiple visual and auditory displays compete for a person?s perceptual, cognitive (decision), and motor (movement) processing. In some task domains, such as air-traffic control, emergency vehicle dispatching, and in-car navigation, multitasking cannot be avoided, and people need to interleave secondary tasks such as navigation with primary life-critical tasks such as driving. To maximize overall human effectiveness, user interfaces intended for life-critical and time-critical complex multitasking need to be designed to account for a person?s ability to monitor and respond to multiple information sources in parallel. And yet, there is little or no practical scientific theory to explain the human abilities, limitations, and strategies for multimodal (auditory and visual) multitasking.
This project develops the science base needed for predictive modeling of human abilities to integrate across multiple modalities to accomplish multiple tasks in parallel. The project will develop a theory of Perceptual Integration in Multimodal Multitasking with rigorous, detailed, high-fidelity computational cognitive modeling of carefully collected human data, including detailed eye movement data, for tasks that are positioned between the lab for high resolution tasks and data and the real world to insure practical application. The modeling will emphasize the role of central executive cognitive decisions for managing perceptual processing, moving the eyes, and coordinating motor responses to interleaved task demands.
The project benefits society by studying and revealing the limitations to human multimodal multitasking performance at the core, and by providing theory that can be put to practice in the design of mission control centers, subway dispatching centers, emergency rooms, and computer systems for vehicles. The theory will lead to practical design decisions that will improve the safety of subways, nuclear power plants, highways, hospitals, and vehicles.
