Presentation
The Impact of Task Complexity on Reaction Time to Vibrotactile Warnings in Struck-by Hazards
DescriptionHighway work zones encounter high 'struck-by' incident rates. We investigated the potential influence of task complexity on highway construction workers’ reaction times to vibrotactile warnings in these work zones. Based on Wickens’ Multiple Resource Theory, vibrotactile warnings can enhance worker safety by providing timely cues in noisy and visually distracting settings. We hypothesized that increased task complexity would extend reaction times. To test this, a virtual reality environment was utilized to simulate a highway construction site, where participants responded to vibrotactile stimuli while engaged in tasks of varying levels of complexity. Sixteen young adults completed 240 trials across three phases, each varying in task requirements and complexity. Findings from Wilcoxon signed-rank tests indicated significant increases in reaction times with increased task complexity. Our results emphasize the need to develop more intuitive vibrotactile warning systems to reduce injury rates in highway work zones by enabling prompt responses to imminent dangers.
Contributors
H.G. Prillaman Professor, Assistant Department Head, and Graduate Program Director
Event Type
Lecture
TimeThursday, September 12th11:15am - 11:45am MST
LocationFLW Salon C
Safety