First Demonstration of an Alertness Monitoring Management System

Abstract : The increasing speed and complexity of current information technology make it possible for computerized information systems to monitor the physical environment with increasing acuity. However, the capacity of the human operator or decision maker to maintain alertness to this information is not increasing, and relatively little effort has been invested in designing technology to enhance operators' abilities to maintain alertness. Despite common assumptions that while we are awake our alertness to the environment is secure and unbroken, many years of vigilance research attests that for most or all monitoring equipment operators (e.g., air traffic control, sonar, radar), maintaining a constant level of alertness is rare, if not impossible. Yet, no system currently exists that can monitor an operator's level of alertness directly, deliver timely information about lapses in alertness to the operator and/or supervisor, and initiate appropriate countermeasures.