Johnell O. Brooks

Driving simulators for occupational therapy screening, assessment, and intervention

ABSTRACT Simulation technology provides safe, objective, and repeatable performance measures pertaining to operational (e.g., avoiding a collision) or tactical (e.g., lane maintenance) driver behaviors. Many occupational therapy researchers and others are using driving simulators to test a variety of applications across diverse populations. A growing body of literature provides support for associations between simulated driving and actual on-road driving. One limitation of simulator technology is the occurrence of simulator sickness, but management strategies exist to curtail or mitigate its onset. Based on the literature review and a consensus process, five consensus statements are presented to support the use of driving simulation technology among occupational therapy practitioners. The evidence suggests that by using driving simulators occupational therapy practitioners may detect underlying impairments in driving performance, identify driving errors in at-risk drivers; differentiate between driving performance of impaired and healthy controls groups; show driving errors with absolute and relative validity compared to on-road studies; and mitigate the onset of simulator sickness. Much progress has been made among occupational therapy researchers and practitioners in the use of driving simulation technology; however, empirical support is needed to further justify the use of driving simulators in clinical practice settings as a valid, reliable, clinical useful, and cost effective tool for driving assessment and intervention.

Differences in Remote versus in-Person Communications While Performing a Driving Task

In Experiment 1, 29 participants performed a simulated driving task both alone and while talking with another participant. Half of the non-driving participants could see the driving scene (in-person communication group) and half could not (remote communication group). When participants performed the driving task while talking with a partner, their situation awareness was significantly less than when they performed only the driving task. Thus, concurrent verbal interactions degraded situation awareness for the driving task. However, the amount of degradation in situation awareness during in-person and remote interactions did not differ significantly. The pace of the in-person and remote verbal interactions differed, suggesting that remote verbal interactions may be more difficult for drivers. Also, drivers talking with remote partners generated more long pauses than drivers talking with in-person partners, suggesting that drivers engaged in remote verbal interactions were modulating their verbalizations in order to maintain adequate driving performance. Experiment 2 replicated the finding that both in-person and remote verbal interactions degraded driving situation awareness, with no significant difference in the amount of degradation for the two types of verbal interaction.

Training the Motor Aspects of Pre-driving Skills of Young Adults With and Without Autism Spectrum Disorder

The purpose of this study was to investigate the utility of using a driving simulator to address the motor aspects of pre-driving skills with young adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). A group of neurotypical control participants and ten participants with ASD completed 18 interactive steering and pedal exercises with the goal to achieve error-free performance. Most participants were able to achieve this goal within five trials for all exercises except for the two most difficult ones. Minimal performance differences were observed between the two groups. Participants with ASD needed more time to complete the tasks. Overall, the interactive exercises and the process used worked well to address motor related aspects of pre-driving skills in young adults with ASD.

An Exploration of the Nightstand and Over-the-Bed Table in an Inpatient Rehabilitation Hospital.

Objective: This study seeks to determine where patients in a rehabilitation hospital keep the greatest percentage of their belongings, that is, in/on the nightstand or on the over-the-bed table. Background: This study provides an inventory of patient items located on the over-the-bed table and in/on the nightstand. Understanding the functions of furnishings within the patient room is key for future preparation for designing a next-generation over-the-bed table or for redesigning a more useful nightstand. Methods: The contents on the top of the nightstand; the contents in the top, middle, and bottom drawers of the nightstand; items next to the nightstand; and the contents on the over-the-bed table within patient rooms were inventoried and placed into categories using similar, patient item categories as the Brooks et al. (2011) study, which examined the contents of the nightstand and the over-the-bed table in assisted living and skilled nursing facilities. Results: Overall, patients in a rehabilitation hospital had a greater percentage of their belongings on the top of the nightstand as compared to their belongings located in all three combined drawers of the nightstand. Overall, patients had a greater percentage of their belongings located on the over-the-bed table as compared to their belongings located on the nightstand. Conclusions: Tabletop surface area was used extensively in patient rooms at a rehabilitation hospital, but nightstand drawers were underutilized.

Evaluation of four steering wheels to determine driver hand placement in a static environment

While much research exists on occupant packaging both proprietary and in the literature, more detailed research regarding user preferences for subjective ratings of steering wheel designs is sparse in published literature. This study aimed to explore the driver interactions with production steering wheels in four vehicles by using anthropometric data, driver hand placement, and driver grip design preferences for Generation-Y and Baby Boomers. In this study, participants selected their preferred grip diameter, responded to a series of questions about the steering wheel grip as they sat in four vehicles, and rank ordered their preferred grip design. Thirty-two male participants (16 Baby Boomers between ages 47 and 65 and 16 Generation-Y between ages 18 and 29) participated in the study. Drivers demonstrated different gripping behavior between vehicles and between groups. Recommendations for future work in steering wheel grip design and naturalistic driver hand positioning are discussed.

The effects of electronic map displays and spatial ability on performance of navigational tasks

One aspect of electronic map displays that has been under examination since their invention is the effect of map configuration, i.e., rotating, track-up vs. fixed, north-up maps, on different navigational tasks. Research has shown that people perform some navigation tasks better with track-up maps, and other navigation tasks better with north-up maps. In the current experiment (N = 16), we investigated how the performance of three common navigation tasks performed as part of an aerial reconnaissance simulation (i.e., cardinal direction judgments, route following and map memory) were affected by an interface factor, map configuration (track-up vs. north-up), and by an individual differences factor, differences in spatial ability. The cardinal direction judgment and route following tasks showed improved accuracy with the track-up map configuration; whereas the map reconstruction task was better facilitated by the north-up map configuration. Spatial abilities were also associated with differences in performance on the three navigation tasks. Spatial abilities and the map-configuration manipulation showed similar strength of association with navigation performance (similar effect size).

Developing a Driving Simulator Based Functional Object Detection Task

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to validate a driving simulator-based tool for assessing functional visual scanning while driving (Goodenough, 2010) by replicating a previous study and assessing whether the results of the task are moderated by strategic decisions regarding task prioritization. Participants completed a functional object detection task that includes a peripheral target detection task and a central braking response task. Results indicated that the simulator task can identify differences in older and younger participants’ abilities to functionally scan the driving environment and these differences appear unaffected by prioritizing either the scanning or braking task. Implications are discussed.

Developing a new driving simulator task to assess drivers' functional object detection

A new driving simulator task was developed with the long-term goal of aiding rehabilitation specialists who work with drivers who may have functional impairments. This simulated driving task was designed to measure a drivers ability to respond to two types of visual stimuli - brake lights of a lead vehicle and targets presented at different eccentricities along the horizon. Three driving scenarios were developed for the study. The first two were used to examine the effect of A-pillar occlusion on the target detection task. The target locations used in the third scenario were chosen to examine the effect of eccentricity on target reaction time when the participant was required to make head movements to locate and respond to targets. This third scenario revealed age-related differences in the capability to locate and respond to visual stimuli in the periphery of the driving environment. This may be due to the decrements in psychomotor ability observed in older adults. This scenario is expected to have utility in clinical settings.

Effects of Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems on Tire Pressures in Consumer Vehicles

In response to a federal mandate, all new light passenger vehicles in the United States will soon be required to include tire pressure monitoring systems (TPMSs) that alert drivers when one or more tires become 25% or more underinflated relative to the pressure level recommended by the vehicle manufacturer. Although the goal of TPMSs is to reduce the population of underinflated tires, their ultimate effect on tire pressure in consumer vehicles is unknown. Tire pressure and survey data were collected from approximately 1,200 vehicles that had just entered a rest area from an Interstate highway. Comparisons between vehicles with and without a TPMS were made from 864 vehicles in the full sample and from a subset of 123 target vehicles. The presence of TPMSs was generally associated with a small (0.7 to 1.5 psi) but significant decrease in the severity of tire underinflation. In addition, vehicles equipped with TPMSs were significantly less likely to have at least one tire that was 25% or more underinflated. The effect of TPMSs on tire pressure might have been larger had the systems been designed to activate at a less severe underinflation level. Less than 2% of survey respondents believed that TPMSs should have a trigger threshold as extreme as the currently mandated 25% threshold. Surveys also revealed that drivers without a TPMS do not report large differences in their tire maintenance behaviors relative to drivers with a TPMS and that more than 25% of drivers of vehicles with a TPMS are unaware that their vehicle is so equipped.

The Design, Prototyping, and Formative Evaluation of an Assistive Robotic Table (ART) for Stroke Patients:

Objective: This article presents the results of an exploratory study in which 14 healthcare subject matter experts (H-SMEs) in addition to four research and design subject matter experts (RD-SMEs) at a regional rehabilitation hospital engaged in a series of complementary, participatory activities in order to design an assistive robotic table (ART). Background: As designers, human factor experts, and healthcare professionals continue to work to integrate assistive human–robot technologies in healthcare, it is imperative to understand how the technology affects patient care from clinicians’ perspectives. Method: Fourteen clinical H-SMEs rated a subset of conceptual ART design ideas; participated in the iterative design process of ART; and evaluated a final cardboard prototype, the rehabilitation hospital’s current over-the-bed table (OBT), an ART built with true materials, and two therapy surface prototypes. Four RD-SMEs conducted a heuristic evaluation on the ART built with true materials. Data were analyzed by frequency and content analysis. Results: The results include a design and prototype for the next generation ART and a pneumatically controlled therapy surface, a broadened list of specifications for the future design and implementation of assistive robotic furniture, and final observations. Conclusion: When compared to the rehabilitation hospital’s current OBT, the developed ART in this study was successful. Designing novel features is dependent upon ensuring patient safety. The inclusion of clinicians in the participatory iterative design and evaluation process and the use of personas provided a broadened list of specifications for the successful implementation of assistive robotic furniture.