Cerebral Activity-Based Quantitative Evaluation for Attention Levels

Regional cerebral activity related to attention may be more useful as an evaluation index for attention levels than conventional task performance score-based methods. We therefore researched whether the quantitative evaluation of attention using regional cerebral activity, measured using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), was appropriate. NIRS signals during the continuous performance test (CPT), which is well known as an attention test, were measured and analyzed. We confirmed activities in the regions that may be associated with the right-side anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), and on the estimated dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). Furthermore, there was a high correlation between activity on the DLPFC related to executive function and the performance score. Our study using cerebral activity could not quantify attention, but it opened the possibility of quantifying levels of executive function.

Improved Tilt Feeling During Remote Control of Construction Machine by Tactile Sensation

The aim of this work is to develop a technology that allows a remote operator of construction machine to feel the situations in a real working site to prevent fall accidents. In tele-operated maneuvering construction machine, it is difficult to recognize the tilt of the vehicle using only images from a camera mounted on the remote vehicle. Therefore, this study focuses on transmitting the feeling of the tilt using a controller with tactile stimulation. A gamepad-type tactile controller that performs palm pressurization is utilized to provide the tactile stimulus. The vehicle’s tilt is expressed by the palm pressure, which changes in corresponding to the vehicle’s pitch and roll angle. This study involves an experiment in which 10 subjects operate a vehicle remotely to climb on a slope. The subjects reported the tilt of the slope felt during the operation. The reported tilt is compared with those obtained by camera images only. The experiment results show that the accuracy of the recognized tilt was improved by 31.7% by utilizing a tactile stimulus when compared with the case involving operation using vision only. A subjective evaluation is performed using a five-point scale questionnaire. The results confirmed that the feeling of tilt, which is difficult to transmit using only video, was improved by 34%. This is an effective technology that transmits the feelings experienced in the remote field in real time. The proposed technology is thus expected to be useful for further development of teleworking technologies.