From November 06 – 17, the Integrated Vigilance and Attention Controller developed for MINIMA was put to the test in Forlì, Italy. Together with 15 active air traffic controllers from Italy’s Air Navigation Service Provider ENAV, it was evaluated to which extent the MINIMA concept can help to keep human operators ‘in-the-loop’ in high-level automation environments. Each controller completed the two-day study design consisting of a training- and an experimental session. During training, participants were introduced with the task environment and the adaptive automation system. In the experimental session, each participant completed scenarios with and without the MINIMA concept. In the baseline scenario, automation was constantly kept at a high level to examine its negative impact on vigilance and attention. Examination of the latter was based on electroencephalography and eye tracking data. In the second scenario using the MINIMA concept, vigilance and attention data were used as input for the Integrated Vigilance and Attention Controller. This way, the task automation level was adapted to the controllers’ state of mind to keep them ‘in-the-loop’, i. e. to maintain a high level of vigilance and attention at all times. Data collected throughout the study will serve to evaluate both the usefulness and feasibility of the MINIMA concept.
The team of MINIMA would like to thank all of the ENAV controllers who participated in this study. Their support was of the utmost importance to MINIMA’s success.