The detrimental influence of distraction on memory and attention is well established, yet it is not as clear whether irrelevant information impacts categorization abilities and whether this impact changes in aging. We examined categorization with morphed prototype stimuli in both younger and older adults, using an adaptive staircase approach to assess participants' performance in conditions wit...

The aim of this research is to develop and implement a computational model able to simulate drivers' visual strategies in dual-task conditions and to investigate visual distraction effects. The modeling approach supporting this research is based on a cognitive model of the car driver so-called COSMODRIVE, focused on mental representations simulation (i.e. situational awareness) and implemented ...

In this paper, we present the findings and conclusions from a user study on audio interfaces. In the experiment we discuss, we studied a framework for choosing sounds for audio interfaces proposed in [6] by comparing a prototype interface against two existing audio browsers. Our findings indicate that our initial framework, which was described as a separation between recognizable and non-recogn...

Driver distraction is an important and growing safety concern as information technologies, such as navigation systems and internet-content services, have become increasingly common in vehicles. To allow people to benefit from these technologies without compromising safety, an adaptive In-Vehicle Information System (IVIS) is needed. Such systems can manage drivers workload and mitigate distracti...

Sound zone systems aim to produce regions within a room where listeners may consume separate audio programs with minimal acoustical interference. Often, there is a trade-off between the acoustic contrast achieved between the zones and the fidelity of the reproduced audio program (the target quality). An open question is whether reducing contrast (i.e., allowing greater interference) can improve...

This paper presents a computational modeling approach for negative effects simulation of visual distraction while driving a car. In order to investigate these effects, an experiment was firstly implemented on a driving simulator. Twenty participants were invited to perform a car following task in different driving conditions (12 driving scenarios), with or without a secondary task of visual dis...