Corine H.G. Horsch, Nanja J. J. M. Smets, Mark A. Neerincx, & Raymond H. Cuijpers. (2013). Revealing unexpected effects of rescue robots' team-membership in a virtual environment. In J. Geldermann and T. Müller S. Fortier F. F. T. Comes (Ed.), ISCRAM 2013 Conference Proceedings – 10th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 627–631). KIT; Baden-Baden: Karlsruher Institut fur Technologie.
Abstract: In urban search and rescue (USAR) situations resources are limited and workload is high. Robots that act as team players instead of tools could help in these situations. A Virtual Reality (VR) experiment was set up to test if team performance of a human-robot team increases when the robot act as such a team player. Three robot settings were tested ranging from the robot as a tool to the robot as a team player. Unexpectedly, team performance seemed to be the best for the tool condition. Two side-effects of increasing robot's teammembership could explain this result: Mental workload increased for the humans who had to work with the team-playing robot, whereas the tendency to share information was reduced between these humans. Future research should, thus, focus on team-memberships that improve communication and reduce cognitive workload.
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Corine H.G. Horsch, Nanja J. J. M. Smets, Mark A. Neerincx, & Raymond H. Cuijpers. (2013). Comparing performance and situation awareness in USAR unit tasks in a virtual and real environment. In J. Geldermann and T. Müller S. Fortier F. F. T. Comes (Ed.), ISCRAM 2013 Conference Proceedings – 10th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 556–560). KIT; Baden-Baden: Karlsruher Institut fur Technologie.
Abstract: A convenient way to test Urban Search And Rescue (USAR) robots would be in virtual environments (VEs). Evaluations in VEs are generally accepted as alternative for real scenarios. There are obvious differences between operation in a real and virtual environment. Nonetheless, the current experiment showed no significant differences in situation awareness (SA) and performance during several elementary tasks (e.g. slalom) between a virtual world and a previous experiment in reality (Mioch, Smets, & Neerincx, 2012). Only small dependencies between the unit tasks were found. The effect of individual differences (like gender, km driven per year, and gaming experience), were significant for certain elementary tasks. Testing robots in virtual environments could still be useful even if differences between VE and reality exist, since comparisons of different conditions in VE seems to have the same results as the same comparison in the field (Bishop & Rohrmann, 2003; Van Diggelen, Looije, Mioch, Neerincx, & Smets, 2012).
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Lucy T. Gunawan, Siska Fitrianie, Willem-Paul Brinkman, & Mark A. Neerincx. (2012). Utilizing the potential of the affected population and prevalent mobile technology during disaster response: Propositions from a literature survey. In Z.Franco J. R. L. Rothkrantz (Ed.), ISCRAM 2012 Conference Proceedings – 9th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management. Vancouver, BC: Simon Fraser University.
Abstract: Despite the growing awareness of the untapped potential of the affected population in a disaster situation, their inclusion in a disaster management is extremely limited. This study aims to survey the literature to see whether utilizing the affected people and prevalent mobile technology can be used during disaster response. The idea is to provide the affected with a way to lead themselves to safety and empower them to serve as distributed active sources of information. This way, those people will reach safety by themselves, while at the same time helping to construct a clear image of the disaster situation without burdening the already overwhelmed emergency services. This study examines knowledge derived from disaster sociology, draws on experience from recent disasters, and extrapolates current technological solutions. By establishing that such a solution is feasible, it offers a basis for empirical studies on a mobile technology that can be used during disaster response. © 2012 ISCRAM.
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Nanja J. J. M. Smets, Guido Te Brake, Jasper Lindenberg, & Mark A. Neerincx. (2007). Influence of mobile map size and user capacities on situation awareness tested in a virtual environment. In K. Nieuwenhuis P. B. B. Van de Walle (Ed.), Intelligent Human Computer Systems for Crisis Response and Management, ISCRAM 2007 Academic Proceedings Papers (pp. 557–564). Delft: Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management, ISCRAM.
Abstract: In the near future, first responders may become equipped with mobile devices providing navigation, decision and communication support. Because of the complex and chaotic circumstances in which these devices will be used, the devices should support the creation and maintenance of adequate situation awareness. Extensive testing of such devices for crisis management in real-life is expensive, complex, risky and only possible for specific settings. Therefore, we developed a synthetic task environment that is suited for developing and evaluating new concepts. In this paper, we present the results of the first experiment in this environment. Participants had to rescue victims in a synthetic world, and were supported by a map of the area showing the location and orientation of the participant and the victims. The experiment focused on the effects of map size and user's spatial ability on the quality of the situational awareness that was developed by the first responders. Besides the results of the experiment, experiences with the use of a synthetic environment for evaluation and development purposes are presented.
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Rosemarijn Looije, Mark A. Neerincx, & Geert-Jan M. Kruijff. (2007). Affective collaborative robots for safety & crisis management in the field. In K. Nieuwenhuis P. B. B. Van de Walle (Ed.), Intelligent Human Computer Systems for Crisis Response and Management, ISCRAM 2007 Academic Proceedings Papers (pp. 497–506). Delft: Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management, ISCRAM.
Abstract: The lack of human-robot collaboration currently presents a bottleneck to widespread use of robots in urban search & rescue (USAR) missions. The paper argues that an important aspect of realizing human-robot collaboration is collaborative control, and the recognition and expression of affect. Affective collaborative robots can enhance joint human-robot performance by adapting the robot's (social) role and interaction to the user's affective state and the context. Current USAR robots lack these capabilities. This paper presents theory, application domains, and requirements for affective collaborative robots based on the current state of the art. With methods from cognitive architectures, affective computing, and human-robot interaction, three core functions of affective collaborative robots can be realized: sliding autonomy, affective communication, and adaptive attitude. These robot functions can substantially enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of rescue workers and meanwhile reduce their cognitive workload. Furthermore, robots with such functions can approach civilians in the field appropriately.
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Tina Mioch, Reinier Sterkenburg, Tatjana Beuker, & Mark A. Neerincx. (2021). Actionable Situation Awareness: Supporting Team Decisions in Hazardous Situations. In Anouck Adrot, Rob Grace, Kathleen Moore, & Christopher W. Zobel (Eds.), ISCRAM 2021 Conference Proceedings – 18th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (pp. 62–70). Blacksburg, VA (USA): Virginia Tech.
Abstract: Situation Awareness (SA) has been recognized and studied as an important requirement for an effective task performance of first responders. The integration of increasingly advanced sensor, network and artificial intelligence technology into the work processes affects the building, maintenance and sharing of SA. Connecting SA to decision support models provides new possibilities for the development of actionable SA (aSA), entailing information that guides the momentary decision-making processes of the concerning actors. In the European ASSISTANCE project, we are developing an aSA module that displays information about gas distributions, its current and predicted future states (e.g., entailing risks of breathing-in of toxic gases), with references to effective decision-making patterns for this situation. The aSA model is continuously updated based on sensor data. This paper gives an overview of this aSA module for chemical hazard prediction and corresponding display, and presents initial team design patterns that will be integrated into this display to support its actionability.
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