ERGONOMICS RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CONTROL STATION WORK WITH HEAD ROTATION

In this study, the effects of signal modality (visual, auditory), hand condition (crossed, uncrossed), and head orientation (upright, right_90, left_90, left_back) on response performance were examined to formulate some pragmatic guidelines for the design of human-machine interfaces requiring multi-sensory processing and head rotation. The results showed all the factors significantly affected reaction time of participants and there was an interaction effect between signal modality and head orientation. Responses for visual signals were significantly faster than those for auditory signals, and responses made with uncrossed hand were superior to those with crossed hand. On head orientation, upright orientation produced the fastest reaction time, while reaction time for head rotated 90° right (right_90) was significantly faster than that for head rotated 90° left (left_90) and rotated left backward (left_back). Regarding the significant interaction effect between signal modality and head orientation, processing time for visual signals
was always faster than that for auditory signals. Such modality superiority increased to a larger extent under the left_90 and left_back head orientations. A modality shifting effect (MSE) was observed such that reaction time for second visual signal in visual-visual condition was significantly faster than that for auditory signal in visual-auditory condition and for visual signal in auditory-visual condition. The findings in this experiment provide some practical ergonomics recommendations for improving control console design in signal-response layout, stimulus-hand arrangement, head condition, and methods of presenting visual and auditory signals.