By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

RESERVE – A recently completed LSU-funded research project is using the eye movements of graduate students to potentially improve the performance of computer interfaces used at refineries and plants throughout the River Parishes.

Over the past two months, students at South Central Louisiana Technical College in Reserve have been taking part in the study, which tracks how participants analyze and respond to what plays out on two differently programmed operator interfaces. Researchers are hoping to use the data to improve operator performance in the industry. The program is part of a 2-year study conducted by LSU.

“The goal was to measure performance of both the interface and the operator,” said Dr. Laura Ikuma, a professor of human factor research at LSU, who was conducting the research at SCLTC. “Software designers who come up with these interfaces have one idea of design, where control operators who use them have a different idea. We want to determine what an operator most needs in order to do their job better.”

Ikuma explained the study looked at student performance when using two separate interfaces. Half of the students were in control of a more updated interface, and the other half took the helm of an older interface program. She said 12 students at the Reserve campus were part of the program.

“We wanted to gauge situational awareness,” Ikuma said. “We wanted to see how quickly a student could solve a problem or respond to an alert on the screen.”

To do that, students were equipped with eye tracking glasses that followed the movement of the operator’s pupils. The glasses tracked the coordinates on the screen where students focused the most attention.

“The data showed what parts of the interface screen students looked at most,” she said. “It shows where students might be staring or what they might be looking for when trying to remedy a problem. We hope to create a grid that we can use to adjust the performance of the real interfaces used at refineries.”

SCLTC grad student Roshinia Jayaben, whose focus is on human-computer interaction, said she hoped the work could lead to a more refined program for process technicians.

“The research is valuable,” Jayaben said. “These controllers are forced to stare at these screens for several hours in a day and what they are looking at needs to be something that works.”

Ikuma said the Reserve campus of SCLTC was ideal in that she had access to students who are training to operate the interfaces.

“These students are going into the industry,” she said. “They know what they want, and they know what works. Our ultimate goal is to make sure the research meets human ability.”

Ikuma said the next step is to run the experiments with experienced operators to see if they react any differently than the students involved. She also said the research group is looking for someone to create a prototype of the software.

“This technology can improve safety in the industry and can address flaws in the system,” Ikuma said. “It will also improve job satisfaction.”