Analyzing Drivers’ Distractions due to Smartphone Usage: Evidence from AutoLog Dataset

The usage of a smartphone while driving has been declared a global portent and has been admitted as a leading cause of crashes and accidents. Numerous solutions, such as Android Auto and CarPlay, are used to facilitate for the drivers by minimizing driver distractions. However, these solutions restrict smartphone usage, which is impractical in real driving scenarios. This research paper presents a comprehensive analysis of the available solutions to identify issues in smartphone activities. We have used empirical evaluation and dataset-based evaluation to investigate the issues in the existing smartphone user interfaces. The results show that using smartphones while driving can disrupt normal driving and may lead to change the steering wheel abruptly, focus off the road, and increases cognitive load, which could collectively result in a devastating situation. To justify the arguments, we have conducted an empirical study by collecting data using maxed mode survey, i.e., questionnaires and interviews from 98 drivers. The results show that existing smartphone-based solutions are least suitable due to numerous issues (e.g., complex and rich interfaces, redundant and time-consuming activities, requiring much visual and mental attention, and contextual constraints), making their effectiveness less viable for the drivers. Based on findings obtained from Ordinal Logistic Regression (OLR) models, it is recommended that the interactions between the drivers and smartphone could be minimized by developing context-aware adaptive user interfaces to overcome the chances of accidents.

Integrated model-driven development of self-adaptive user interfaces

Modern user interfaces (UIs) are increasingly expected to be plastic, in the sense that they retain a constant level of usability, even when subjected to context changes at runtime. Self-adaptive user interfaces (SAUIs) have been promoted as a solution for context variability due to their ability to automatically adapt to the context-of-use at runtime. The development of SAUIs is a challenging and complex task as additional aspects like context management and UI adaptation have to be covered. In classical model-driven UI development approaches, these aspects are not fully integrated and hence introduce additional complexity as they represent crosscutting concerns. In this paper, we present an integrated model-driven development approach where a classical model-driven development of UIs is coupled with a model-driven development of context-of-use and UI adaptation rules. We base our approach on the core UI modeling language IFML and introduce new modeling languages for context-of-use (ContextML) and UI adaptation rules (AdaptML). The generated UI code, based on the IFML model, is coupled with the context and adaptation services, generated from the ContextML and AdaptML model, respectively. The integration of the generated artifacts, namely UI code, context, and adaptation services in an overall rule-based execution environment, enables runtime UI adaptation. The benefit of our approach is demonstrated by two case studies, showing the development of SAUIs for different application scenarios and a usability study which has been conducted to analyze end-user satisfaction of SAUIs.

Adaptive User Interfaces for People with Cognitive Disabilities within the Easy Reading Framework

Adaptive user interfaces are user interfaces that dynamically adapt to the users’ preferences and abilities. These user interfaces have great potential to improve accessibility of user interfaces for people with cognitive disabilities. However automatic changes to user interfaces driven by adaptivity are also in contradiction to accessibility guidelines, as consistence of user interfaces is of utmost importance for people with cognitive disabilities. This paper describes how such user interfaces are implemented within the Easy Reading framework, a framework to improve the accessibility of web-pages for people with cognitive disabilities.

Classification of Attentional Tunneling Through Behavioral Indices

Objective The objective of this study was to develop a machine learning classifier to infer attentional tunneling through behavioral indices. This research serves as a proof of concept for a method for inferring operator state to trigger adaptations to user interfaces. Background Adaptive user interfaces adapt their information content or configuration to changes in operating context. Operator attentional states represent a promising class of triggers for these adaptations. Behavioral indices may be a viable alternative to physiological correlates for triggering interface adaptations based on attentional state. Method A visual search task sought to induce attentional tunneling in participants. We analyzed user interaction under tunnel and non-tunnel conditions to determine whether the paradigm was successful. We then examined the performance trade-offs stemming from attentional tunnels. Finally, we developed a machine learning classifier to identify patterns of interaction characteristics associated with attentional tunnels. Results The experimental paradigm successfully induced attentional tunnels. Attentional tunnels were shown to improve performance when information appeared within them, but to hinder performance when it appeared outside. Participants were found to be more tunneled in their second tunnel trial relative to their first. Our classifier achieved a classification accuracy similar to comparable studies (area under curve = 0.74). Conclusion Behavioral indices can be used to infer attentional tunneling. There is a performance trade-off from attentional tunneling, suggesting the opportunity for adaptive systems. Application This research applies to adaptive automation aimed at managing operator attention in information-dense work domains.