AbstractsPsychology

PERCEPTUAL-SYSTEM CALIBRATION IN INTERACTIVE TELE-OPERATED ENVIRONMENTS

by Henry Ernest Cook




Institution: Miami University
Department: Psychology
Degree: PhD
Year: 2015
Keywords: Psychology; Cognitive Psychology; Experimental Psychology, Ecological Psychology, Perception, Teleoperation, Calibration, Human Factors, Ergonomics
Record ID: 2058116
Full text PDF: http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1429878120


Abstract

As mobile, remote, and virtual experiences and interactions become increasingly commonplace, questions emerge regarding how we create and evaluate the effectiveness of these novel means of exploring and performing. Two perceptual judgment tasks were used to investigate the link between active exploration and its effect on calibrating human sensorimotor systems in tele-operated environments using a tele-robotic device. Participants were tasked with perceiving the pass-ability of themselves while sitting in a wheelchair and a tele-robotic device through an aperture of a certain width. In the second study, using perceived pass-ability to navigate the tele-robotic device through a maze environment. Perceptual judgment data and postural motion were measured to examine performance and behavioral changes emerging from exploration during the experimental activities. Motion was recorded using a suite of magnetic and optical motion capture systems. Differences in observed movements were evaluated using non-linear procedures: Sample Entropy, Path length Normalized, & Path Length. For the aperture passing task, exploration was found to be disruptive to perceptual judgments and attunement while also displaying distinct postural motion profiles. For the maze task, exploration was found to be beneficial in perceptual attunement and calibration as it pertained to operation of the tele-robotic device. These findings suggest the type of exploration allowed can have consequences for subsequent purposeful actions. Given the nature of the task and the information that specifies its success; exploratory practices that attune operators to other information may create disruptive links in perceptual ability, adjustment and overall learning. When these disruptive links are not developed, exploration provides a potentially positive role in aiding operator control, training, and performance in tele-operated environments.