Yearly Archives: 2020

HFC has been working intensively on this question in cooperation with the German Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA) for the last two years.

In modern organizations, field staff use mobile display devices (smartphones, laptops, etc.) not only for communication, but also for data acquisition, maintenance and sometimes also for switching operations. New interaction systems, especially for field use, should be selected according to the task to be performed, because the task and the special working context of field staff in plants of various industrial sectors place increased demands on e.g. robustness, freedom from glare, sound quality, etc. Ultimately, mobile technology must support the user in his perception, processing and execution of actions in the best possible way and contribute to the avoidance of errors, because these can possibly have health consequences.

In order to support the design and introduction of new technology, our specially developed checklist can help practitioners to consider basic requirements, organisational issues, but also user-oriented hardware and software design. The checklist and the work in the project are described in a comprehensive report, which is now available at https://doi.org/10.21934/baua:bericht20191125. In addition, together with BAuA we have submitted an English language paper about the project and the checklist in CHEMICAL ENGINEERING TRANSACTIONS, which will hopefully be accepted and published by autumn 2020.

Online questionnaire on TV content with virtual sign language interpreter

In our project CONTENT4ALL, a television studio is developed that is not based at the TV station but can be used remotely (remote studio). This will make the work of sign language interpreters easier, not requiring them to travel to the TV station but instead to use the remote studio facilities, even at their own premise. The new technical system will also make it easier and cheaper for television stations to produce sign language programmes in the future. As a result, more programmes in sign language can be offered. Deaf viewers will see the television content as enriched with a virtual 3D representation of the captured sign language interpreter.

Due to the fact that we would like to develop the system in a way that it is the most effective and good-looking for the television viewers, we would like to ask you in the following online survey about your opinion on how you think such a content should be designed and spatially arranged in the best possible way on the TV screen. The survey just takes about 20 minutes:

c4all.human-factors-consult.de/

Please also forward this mail to your friends, association members and other interested parties.

Thank you for your support!
Your CONTENT4ALL project team

On February 11, Astrid will be part of the Control Rooms Summit 2020 during Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) 2020 at the Hotel Okura Amsterdam. Taking the theme ‘How better integrated AV will save and protect lives and deliver more efficient operations in the world of mission critical command and control’ the CRS2020 will address the latest trends in technology, design, ergonomics and best practice in this dynamic technology-led business sector. Astrid will be part of the panel discussion on ‘Ergonomic Design Considerations’. Hope to see you there and to discuss important trends in the control rooms industry.

HFC has accompanied Jeppesen (A Boeing Company), it their development of new Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) capabilities since 2015. The purpose of the Human Factors evaluation was to assess the Human Factors characteristics of the new Jeppesen product capabilities. Of particular interest were the impact on flight crew workload, situational awareness and acceptance under real flight conditions in a flight simulator by direct comparison of different EFBs.

HFC developed a holistic Human Factors evaluation plan (HFEP) in accordance with E-OCVM (European Operational Concept Validation Methodology). This includes defined test hypotheses, a validation plan, a definition of test variables and an elaborate test design. In close cooperation with the Technical University of Wildau (THW) real-time simulations were conducted with international pilots. THW adapted its A320 simulator and provided it for the evaluations. The evaluation plan, the analysis, and the results of the evaluation were documented in a report for submission to EASA.

Jeppesen is the market leader for instrument flight charts for commercial and business aviation. The Jeppesen research and development team in Denver, Neu-Isenburg and Gdansk have developed market-leading products for the Electronic Flight Bag, including the cockpit assistance system Airport Moving Map.

The video about the evaluation and the product can be found here: