Can we talk? How a talking agent can improve human autonomy team performance

Abstract

High levels of automation in future aviation technologies such as Unmanned Aircraft Systems could lead to human operators losing essential Situation Awareness and becoming ‘out-of-the-loop’. Research into Human Autonomy Teaming proposes that improved communication between the human and autonomous agents of a system can address this problem. However, knowledge around the effect of automation audio communication is lacking in the literature and we propose audio-voice conversation would provide the optimum form of communication. In this study we evaluated the impact that providing a conversational interface to a synthetic teammate had on the performance, Situation Awareness and perception of teaming of the human teammate. Twenty-four participants conducted experimental trials on a computer-based task adapted from a Levels Of Automation test method developed by Endsley and Kaber (1999). The results show that synthetic voice communication had a significant positive effect on human performance and perception of teaming. Also demonstrated was that teaming structure has an effect on how that performance increases, with participants in higher Levels Of Automation where the automation provides decision making advice demonstrating a habit of consistently following voice provided advice, even when that advice results in the participant adopting new behaviours and taking more risks.

Keywords:

• Human autonomy teaming
• conversational interface
• SA

Disclosure statement

There are no conflicts of interest or competing interests for this paper.

Notes

1 Source code is available open source from authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Adam Bogg

Adam Bogg is a PhD Research Student at Coventry University researching aviation Human Autonomy Teaming communication interfaces. Prior to attending Coventry University Adam was an Aviation Training Manager, specialising in Training Needs Analysis and the development of eLearning solutions, with over 25 years’ experience designing and managing the delivery of aviation career training. His career has primarily been involved with military aviation training, serving in the Royal Air Force and Royal New Zealand Air Force and latterly managing contracts for academic training delivered to the Royal New Zealand Air Force and recently the United Arab Emirates Air Force.

Stewart Birrell

Stewart A Birrell is a Professor of Human Factors for Future Transport within the National Transport Design Centre (ntdc) at Coventry University. He received his PhD in Ergonomics from Loughborough University, UK in 2007, and first-class degree in Sport Science in 2002. Stewart has spent the previous 15 years working within the transportation sector within industry and academia, with expertise ranging from driver behaviour and distraction, multimodal warnings, user state monitoring and information requirements – all underpinned by the design of in-vehicle information systems, and their evaluation using simulators, virtual reality (VR) and field operational trials. Currently, he applies innovative Human Factors Engineering methodologies to enable real-world and virtual evaluation of user interaction with Connected and Autonomous Vehicle (CAV), Electric Vehicle (EV) and Urban Air Mobility (UAM) technologies and services. Professor Birrell has over 100 journal and conference papers, book sections and articles published in his field to date, and is an Editor of the internationally renowned, Q1/4* journal IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems.

Michael A. Bromfield

Michael A. Bromfield is a Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor in Aerospace and a Flight Safety Researcher within the School of Metallurgy and Materials, the University of Birmingham. A Chartered Ergonomist/Human Factors Specialist and Chartered Engineer, he was awarded his Ph.D. from the Department of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering at Brunel University, London, UK, in 2012. He is a former technologist apprentice with Westland Helicopters, a trained flight test engineer and a current private pilot. He specialises in the areas of flying qualities, aerospace systems engineering and human factors enabling insight into complex ‘human in the loop’ systems. His particular interests are Loss of Control In Flight (LOC-I) and future aerospace vehicle design. He is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors and a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society. He plays an active role in a number of National, European and International technical and safety committees including NASA, AIAA, EASA, UKFSC and UKVLN and has over 30 publications.

Andrew M. Parkes

Andrew M. Parkes has a background in Psychology and Human Factors and is active in areas of virtual and augmented reality, transport design and safety. He has been Vice President of the Forum of European Road Safety Research Institutes (FERSI) and Honorary Professor of Life Sciences at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh and is currently Adjunct Professor (Research) at Monash University (Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture), Australia. He has held research positions at Birmingham, Loughborough, Leeds and Coventry Universities and the Transport Research Laboratory in the UK. Interests over his career have expanded from accident causation and investigation, through to a much wider view of the efficiency, acceptability and safety of transport systems and the needs of future cities. He has published over 230 journal articles, book contributions and sponsored reports in the areas of driver behaviour and performance.