Karla A. Badillo-Urquiola

Measuring Trust of Autonomous Vehicles: A Development and Validation Study

Recent advances in technology have improved the ability of vehicles to act autonomously, thereby enabling the implementation of these systems into the lives of the everyday consumer. For example, in the past three years nearly several major vehicle manufacturer, supplier, and technology company have announced projects involving autonomous vehicles (AVs). While the notion of AVs has been popular within the military, the urgency to make them commonplace has gathered pace as companies outside the auto industry have illustrated the feasibility and benefits that AVs offer. However, in order to predict user adoption of these autonomous features, attitudes towards them must be understood. Thus, the purpose of the present in-progress study is to develop and validate a scale to quantify trust towards autonomous vehicles. Upon the completion of data collection, the data will be subjected to a factor analysis. It is hypothesized that the scale ratings will converge to a single underlying dimension. It is also hypothesized that there will be differences in trust among the levels of vehicle autonomy.

Cyber workforce development using a behavioral cybersecurity paradigm

This paper contributes to the ongoing efforts in the cybersecurity community to strengthen cyber workforce development by providing an overview of key gaps and proposing practical education strategies. Leveraging documented incidents from defense, industry, and academia and the rest of the United States government, we identify emerging cyber-education opportunities highlighting human-centric elements using a gap analysis approach. We closely examine the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education’s (NICE) National Cybersecurity Workforce Framework (NCWF) as well as the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) National Initiative for Cybersecurity Careers and Studies (NICCS) educational framework. These documents provide a foundation for current and future research with cybersecurity workforce development. Next, the paper outlines a pilot education program launched at the University of Central Florida (UCF), designed to address the unique challenges of the human dimension in cybersecurity. The purpose of highlighting this pilot program is to provide an example of human-centric cyber-educational curriculum. The present paper offers a launching point for further discussion about the human side of cybersecurity, closing with considerations of the “lessons learned” from early responses to the UCF program from the program’s inaugural student cohort.

Exploring the Impact of Simulator Sickness on the Virtual World Experience

This research initiative seeks to understand training effectiveness for Virtual World (VW) technologies. The advancement of VW training platforms in both academia and industry demonstrates the need to investigate the effects of simulator sickness (SS) on the VW experience. This paper uses the Military Open Simulator Enterprise Strategy (MOSES) VW platform to train 32 Reserve Officers’ Training Corps Cadets from the University of Central Florida on a room clearing task. A between-subjects design was conducted with an emphasis on the VW training condition. The data collected included both individual and collective performance as well as perceptual data (SS, Presence, Flow, and Engagement). Data analysis comprised of a series of Pearson product correlation coefficient for understanding the relationship between SS and Presence, Flow, and Engagement in addition to explaining performance outcomes. The results found moderate to strong, negative correlations between SS and Presence, SS and Flow, and SS and Engagement. The results reveal that SS interrupts presence during the VW training which can lead to negative training transfer. Alternatively, the increase in presence, flow, and engagement associated with a decrease in SS may be linked to motivation which is essential to effective training. Finally, this paper discusses limitations related to VW research (e.g., internal and external validity, expertise level, etc.) but also provides a basic foundation from which SS research may enhance VW training.

Assessment of Kim’s Game Strategy for Behavior Cue Detection: Engagement, Flow, & Performance Aspects

Psychological constructs, such as engagement and flow, can be used to determine an individual’s involvement in a task and predict levels of performance during Simulation-Based Training (SBT) in military operations. This experiment used a virtual form of Kim’s game (an observational training game that includes memorization of objects and later recall), to improve pattern recognition and behavior cue detection, during SBT. The purpose of this experiment was to assess participant engagement and flow between two conditions, Kim’s game vs. the control. Seventy-five participants were randomly assigned to either condition, and completed a pre-test, training vignette, post-test, and multiple questionnaires which assessed the individuals’ levels of engagement and flow. Experimental results show the control group reported higher levels of both engagement and flow in all subscales, and flow as a higher predictor of performance than engagement. This paper examines plausible explanations why the engagement questionnaire did not assess differences in performance. The lack of statistically significant findings may be a result of the engagement survey questions and the type of task (i.e., discrete or continuous). Finally, this paper provides future recommendations for examining the role of engagement and flow for simulation-based behavior cue detection training.

Preliminary Review of a Virtual World Usability Questionnaire

Improving performance through training in virtual environments has led to identifying the best methods associated with enhancing human-computer interaction. This paper provides a description of a usability questionnaire for Virtual World training, by focusing on experiential U.S. Army Warrior Leader Course tasks performed using an input desktop device (i.e., a mouse and keyboard). The usability questionnaire was developed by integrating established usability subscales. A Likert scale for both user experience (for game genre and controller type) and usability levels were implemented, along with free response questions, to gain insight into the controller interface(s). Descriptive statistics and determination of internal consistency (using Cronbach’s alpha) are reviewed for establishing the reliability and validity of the novel questionnaire. Proposed changes to the questionnaire include removal of superfluous items and consolidation of subscales. Tradeoffs for types of controllers are discussed, in light of the results.

Investigation of Multimodal Mobile Applications for Improving Mental Health

The National Alliance on Mental Illness reports that one in four adults experience mental health issues in a given year. Stigmas surrounding mental health issues often leave those afflicted reluctance to seek treatment. Those individuals that do decide to pursue treatment are often denied because of cost and lack of health care coverage or simply do not know where to find it. Assisted technologies can bridge these gaps, providing not only information on how to manage symptoms, but viable treatment options e.g., adaptive management plans and training, physiological sensing, and alerts for physical symptom onset. The pairing of wearable technology, smart applications, and blended learning techniques can teach patients and caregivers the skills needed for lifetime management. The present theoretical paper provides a literature review of current technology platforms that can be utilized by the mental health domain and explores viable mental health technology options for the next five years.

Virtual Approach to Psychomotor Skills Training: Manipulating the Appearance of Avatars to Influence Learning

Using avatars as virtual instructors is becoming increasingly popular in the military domain due to the emerging advances in distributive technologies (e.g., internet, virtual worlds, etc.). The use of virtual environments and avatars are viable means for achieving enhancements in the area of psychomotor skill development. Although prior research has focused on investigating the benefits of implementing virtual agents into learning environments, there is limited research on examining the impact an avatar’s physical appearance has on training. The purpose of this paper is to examine the fundamental applications of three types of virtual avatars (i.e., generic, highly recognizable subject matter expert (SME), and doppelganger) and provide recommendations for future psychomotor skills training. A case study assesses the benefits of applying this virtual approach to physical therapy. Finally, this research seeks to expand the knowledge base of several training domains, such as the military, rehabilitation, high performance athletic training, etc.

A Tale of Two Majors: When Information Technology is Embedded within a Department of Computer Science

Student success is one of the most widely discussed topics in the higher education literature. One understudied factor that may have a significant impact on student success is the effect of co-locating two different undergraduate programs - specifically, Computer Science (CS) and Information Technology (IT) - in the same department. In this paper, we examine student data from the IT and CS undergraduate programs at a large, public university to identify and compare the paths of IT and CS students, who started the program in Fall 2008 and dropped out, changed their major, or successfully completed the program by Summer 2013. We also conducted an open-ended survey of 165 IT and CS students to determine their perceptions of the two programs. Our results suggest a tiered relationship between the two programs, where CS appears to be a more volatile and rigorous of a major in terms of student pathways and perceptions. We conclude that social comparisons that occur due to the way these programs were established at the target university contribute to this imbalance. Based on our analyses, we propose measures to mitigate negative social comparisons between the two programs and make IT a standalone program contributing to student success.

A Stakeholders' Analysis of the Systems that Support Foster Care

This paper focuses on understanding how the key stakeholders of the foster care system work together, as well as the systems that facilitate collaboration. We conducted 20 interviews with foster parents, 2 with non-profit agencies, and 1 case worker interview. Our findings suggest that each stakeholder faces their own unique challenges and sociotechnical systems put in place to assist stakeholders are not sufficient for addressing these concerns. This poster identifies the major stakeholders, their goals and needs, as well as the systems used. Our work helps identify gaps in order to design more effective systems that can better support the foster care system.

Carebit: A Privacy-Preserving "Step" Toward Remote Informal Caregiving

Several tele-monitoring systems have been developed for in-home patient use. Unfortunately, many of these systems are cost prohibitive and privacy invasive to the patient. To overcome this problem, we designed a more affordable and lightweight solution called Carebit, an Android application that leverages the Fitbit API. We conducted two user studies to understand ways to improve our design. Overall, we found that the notifications feature is the most useful feature for users, and no concerns about privacy were mentioned. The goal of Carebit is improve informal caregiving.