This complex proposal is a pioneering effort aimed at exploring novel methods to counter boredom associated with repetitive tasks. The approach, based on a pilot study, is to design appropriate interactive options in the form of computer games and other activities requiring imaginative thinking. The premise taken is that multiplexing an interesting task in a background monitoring task can lead to improved engagement and, indirectly, improved performance. The concept has been successfully tested in a pilot study and it is proposed to build new application designs suitable for effective dual tasking.
" (2010-2011), we addressed an intriguing set of questions regarding the role of engaging interventions in boring tasks. Specifically, we measured the performance and physiology of subjects while on security monitoring duty over the course of several weeks. In half of the sessions the subjects performed their duties under normal conditions, while in the other half they were given the opportunity to engage in parallel activities, such as playing computer games or browsing the web. We designed these parallel activities to be symbiotic rather than antagonistic to the main task of monitoring the surveillance cameras. For example we developed a jigsaw puzzle game out of the video feeds, where the user had no other choice but to pay attention to these feeds if s/he wanted to solve the puzzle. This was a case of reducing boredom while reinforcing attention. In another example we positioned a small browser in the middle of a video display arrangement, enabling the user to maintain peripheral vision on the security feeds as s/he was surfing the Internet. This was a case of reducing boredom via minimal distraction. What we have found is that in sessions with symbiotic activities, the subjects performed better, they were more alert and engaged, and they reported higher levels of job satisfaction with respect to regular sessions. Performance was measured as the number of correctly identified malicious activities that were staged for the purposes of the experiment (e.g., theft of a keyboard in the camera’s field of view). Alertness was quantified via breathing rate and engagement via rate of supraorbital temperature increase. Higher levels of breathing rate were indicative of higher metabolic rate in symbiotic sessions. Higher rate of supraorbital temperature increase was the physiological manifestation of corrugator muscle engagement (frowning) in symbiotic sessions, a facial expression autonomically related to cognitive action. This work demonstrates that even a somewhat distractive activity incorporated to a boring task it has an overall positive effect. Boredom is the worst enemy of performance. Because some of the most critical jobs in our society are often boring (e.g., security guards), the implications of this finding cannot be underestimated - it is likely to transform practices in a number of professions.
