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Design and evaluation of applications with speech interfaces — experimental results and practical guidelines
ABSTRACTS 24.4.7 (129891) Wiegman, J F, Obllmmen, J H, Webb, J T and Pilmanis, A A 'Validation of a dual-cycle ergometer for exercise during 100% oxygen prebreathing' in Proc 29th Ann Symp SAFE Association, Las Vegas, Nevada, 11-13 November 1991 SAFE Association, YoncaUa, Oregon, USA (1991) pp 231-235 (8 refs) A study has been designed to determine if exercise, while prebreathing 100% oxygen prior to decompression, can reduce the current resting-prebreathe time requirements for extravehicular activity and high-altitude reconnaissance flight. For that study, a suitable exercise mode was required. Design considerations included space limitations, cost, pressure-suit compatibility, ease and maintenance of calibration, accuracy of work output, and assurance that no significant mechanical advantage or disadvantage would be introduced into the system. In addition, the exercise device must enhance denitrogenation by incorporation of both upper- and lower-body musculature at high levels of oxygen consumption. The purpose of this paper is to: (1) describe the specially constructed, dual-cycle ergometer developed for simultaneous arm and leg exercise during prebreathing, and (2) compare maximal oxygen uptake obtained on the device with that obtained during leg-only cycle ergometry and treadmill testing. Results demonstrate the suitability of the dual-cycle ergometer as an appropriate tool for exercise research during 100% oxygen prebreathing. 24.4.8 (129279) Harss, C, Kastner, M and Beerman, L 'The impact of personality and task characteristics on stress and strain during helicopter flight' Int J Aviat Psychol Vol 1 No 4 (1991) pp 301-318 (17 refs) A longitudinal research project on stress and strain of helicopter pilots engaged in low-altitude night flight with night vision goggles (NVG) was carried out over 3 years. An overview is given regarding the design and theoretical background of the project. Psychological, physiological, and observational data were collected before, during, and after flight. In the theoretical model, stress and strain in flight result from concrete actions by specific pilots in specific objectively definable situations. Traits, such as anxiety, riskiness, and aggressiveness. are regarded as manifestations of behaviour regulation styles, which appear during flight. These traits and behaviour regulation patterns are deter-
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mined by cognitive processes, especially the pilot's perception of himself and the situation. By identifying those characteristics of the person and the environmem that (in an interaction) lead to critical flight situations and stress: it is possible to deduce weak points and give recommendations in the domain of flight security. As examples for concrete interactions between personality and situational variables, the observed stress of helicopter crews, which depends on the personality characteristics of riskiness and test anxiety (worry cognitions), and situation-characteristic difficulty are introduced.
24.4.9 (129350) Van Nes, F 'Design and evaluation of applications with speech interfaces - experimental results and practical guidelines' in Galer, M, Harker, S and Ziegler, J Methods and tools in user-centred design for information technology NorthHolland. Amsterdam (1992) pp 281-297 (13 refs) Man-computer communication is still predominantly monomedial: computer input is generated by manual means, mostly the keyboard, and output is presented visually, usually on a CRT. To enrich this communication, speech may be applied, both as an input and output medium. This chapter describes human factors research on the application of speech in four areas: help messages, annotation of documents. speech-to-text conversion and electronic diary-keeping. In the latter three areas voice commands were also used for system control. Regarding the first area. instruction (help messages), it was found that learning may proceed as fast with speech as with text and possibly be more thorough. A number of subjects preferred speech over text for learning. In the second area, annotation of documents, voice annotations turned out to be more efficient to make than text annotations which is reflected in preference rates: 2-1. This picture changes for receiving annotations from somebody else, however; processing times are the same or longer for voice than for text annotations. In the third area, speechto-text conversion, subjects preferred voice over manual commands for layout and typographic control as well as for corrective purposes. Voice commands were also preferred over manual ones in the fourth area, diary-keeping. Practical guidelines are given for the application of speech in all four areas, including the use of speech recognition per se.
24.4.10 (129329) Fisher, D L m d Tanner, N S 'Optimal symbol set selection: a semiautomated procedure' Hum Factors Vot 34 No 1 (1992) pp 79-95 (18 refs) A new model of the visual search process is developed which can improve the design of large symbol sets such as those used by nuclear power plant personnel, air traffic controllers, and battlefield troops. An experiment was conducted to determine whether the new. componential model or an already existing, diseriminability model better explains visual search behaviour. The results were consistent with the componential model. The authors show how to use the componential model to help automate selection of the optimal symbol set (ic, the symbol set that minimizes the average time to find a target). 24.4.11 1129353) Ray, G G 'An evaluation of command line and menu interfaces in a CAD environment' Int J Comput Integr Manuf Vol 5 No 2 (1992) pp 94-106 (13 refs) While the design of human-machine interfaces is still very much an art, we still know very little of their performance in anything but very simple application areas. This paper sets out to describe the performance of a reasonably complex computer-aided design (CAD) system. The study of the use of this system, in two modes of operation (commandline and menu-driven) has identified problems with the design concept and indicates that some changes could improve the performance of the user interface. The results of the study indicate that, for resonably complex tasks, the time taken to execute a command is likely to be dominated by the period of intention and evaluation. Also, it has been shown that there does not appear to be any strong evidence of performance improvement following the implementation of a menu-styled interface, though some reduction in error rates is indicated.
Disldxy and control 24.4.12 (129395) Shein, G F, Treviranus, J, Brownlow, N D, ~ , M and l~rnes, P 'An overview of human--computer interaction techniques for people with physical disabilities' Int J Ind Ergon, Vol 9 No 2 (1992) pp 171-181 (0 refs) Access to computer technology is of vital importance t o people with disabilities. This paper reviews a broad range of state-of-the-art solutions of the problem of human-computer interaction for users with physical impairments.
Applied Ergonomics
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mined by cognitive processes, especially the pilot's perception of himself and the situation. By identifying those characteristics of the person and the environmem that (in an interaction) lead to critical flight situations and stress: it is possible to deduce weak points and give recommendations in the domain of flight security. As examples for concrete interactions between personality and situational variables, the observed stress of helicopter crews, which depends on the personality characteristics of riskiness and test anxiety (worry cognitions), and situation-characteristic difficulty are introduced.
24.4.9 (129350) Van Nes, F 'Design and evaluation of applications with speech interfaces - experimental results and practical guidelines' in Galer, M, Harker, S and Ziegler, J Methods and tools in user-centred design for information technology NorthHolland. Amsterdam (1992) pp 281-297 (13 refs) Man-computer communication is still predominantly monomedial: computer input is generated by manual means, mostly the keyboard, and output is presented visually, usually on a CRT. To enrich this communication, speech may be applied, both as an input and output medium. This chapter describes human factors research on the application of speech in four areas: help messages, annotation of documents. speech-to-text conversion and electronic diary-keeping. In the latter three areas voice commands were also used for system control. Regarding the first area. instruction (help messages), it was found that learning may proceed as fast with speech as with text and possibly be more thorough. A number of subjects preferred speech over text for learning. In the second area, annotation of documents, voice annotations turned out to be more efficient to make than text annotations which is reflected in preference rates: 2-1. This picture changes for receiving annotations from somebody else, however; processing times are the same or longer for voice than for text annotations. In the third area, speechto-text conversion, subjects preferred voice over manual commands for layout and typographic control as well as for corrective purposes. Voice commands were also preferred over manual ones in the fourth area, diary-keeping. Practical guidelines are given for the application of speech in all four areas, including the use of speech recognition per se.
24.4.10 (129329) Fisher, D L m d Tanner, N S 'Optimal symbol set selection: a semiautomated procedure' Hum Factors Vot 34 No 1 (1992) pp 79-95 (18 refs) A new model of the visual search process is developed which can improve the design of large symbol sets such as those used by nuclear power plant personnel, air traffic controllers, and battlefield troops. An experiment was conducted to determine whether the new. componential model or an already existing, diseriminability model better explains visual search behaviour. The results were consistent with the componential model. The authors show how to use the componential model to help automate selection of the optimal symbol set (ic, the symbol set that minimizes the average time to find a target). 24.4.11 1129353) Ray, G G 'An evaluation of command line and menu interfaces in a CAD environment' Int J Comput Integr Manuf Vol 5 No 2 (1992) pp 94-106 (13 refs) While the design of human-machine interfaces is still very much an art, we still know very little of their performance in anything but very simple application areas. This paper sets out to describe the performance of a reasonably complex computer-aided design (CAD) system. The study of the use of this system, in two modes of operation (commandline and menu-driven) has identified problems with the design concept and indicates that some changes could improve the performance of the user interface. The results of the study indicate that, for resonably complex tasks, the time taken to execute a command is likely to be dominated by the period of intention and evaluation. Also, it has been shown that there does not appear to be any strong evidence of performance improvement following the implementation of a menu-styled interface, though some reduction in error rates is indicated.
Disldxy and control 24.4.12 (129395) Shein, G F, Treviranus, J, Brownlow, N D, ~ , M and l~rnes, P 'An overview of human--computer interaction techniques for people with physical disabilities' Int J Ind Ergon, Vol 9 No 2 (1992) pp 171-181 (0 refs) Access to computer technology is of vital importance t o people with disabilities. This paper reviews a broad range of state-of-the-art solutions of the problem of human-computer interaction for users with physical impairments.
Applied Ergonomics