Here we have our first prototype for of a 3×3 LED Array that will be used for investigation purposes of the arduino microcontroller and the possiblities of implemetation within the project 54 simulator. This device is the first generation of a new directional navigation device. Expanding on this idea my senior project team and I will create larger LED arrarys able to understand …
Category Archive: Driving simulator
Jul
19
KEEPERS – Inspired to Become Engineers at a very young age
After a morning workshop about electricity, KEEPERS campers continued to have fun while learning about some of the applications of electrical and computer engineering in the UNH-ECE driving simulator lab. Today, Oskar Palinko and I hosted a group of about 25 KEEPERS campers. To ensure that every KEEPERS camper had an opportunity to learn about and interact …
Apr
21
Real-Time Pupil Diameter Based Cognitive Load Estimation
One of the least intrusive methods for assessing cognitive load is measuring pupil diameter change using remote eye tracking. Because of the effect of task evoked pupillary response (TEPR), the pupil will dilate when a person is faced with a challenging cognitive task. But the pupil’s diameter will also change due to change in lighting …
Oct
19
2011 NEC HFES Student Conference
This past Friday I traveled to Boston for the 2011 Student Conference organized by the New-England Chapter of Human Factors and Ergonomics Society. It was hosted at the Microsoft NERD Center in Cambridge, with a beautiful view of the Charles River Basin, shown in the figure above. Project54 had seven UNH graduate and undergraduate students in attendance: Zeliko Medednica, Shawn …
Aug
19
Infrared Illumination when Measuring Pupil Diameter
In most of our experiments here at Project54 we incorporate eye tracking. It is useful, not only to be aware of where a subject is looking, but it can also measure pupil diameter which is an indicator of cognitive load. Over the years we have simply discounted unreliable data. Most of that unreliable data is …
Jun
07
Calibrating Steering Encoder for UNH Driving Simulator
Since we upgraded our Drive Safety DS-600C driving simulator with the new version of the software, we noticed that the reading for the steering wheel angle was incorrectly calibrated. Namely, even though the steering wheel can be rotated about 1.5 full turns in both directions (which would amount to approximately -540° to +540° lock-to-lock) the …
Dec
17
Automotive UI 2010
This November, a few of my colleagues and I attended the Automotive UI 2010 Conference, held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The conference attracted a significant number of high quality presenters active in the field of automotive user interface research and design. It was held during two consecutive days and had the Bill Gates building at the …
Dec
05
Illumination Experiment
Amongst the many metrics that an eye tracker generates, pupil diameter as a metric has grabbed the attention of many eye tracking researchers. It is well known that the pupil diameter changes with respect to stimuli such as pain, arousal, auditory signals, cognitive demands and illumination etc. As an intern at the Project54 lab at …
Dec
02
Garrett Weinberg's Visit
As a continuation of the great series of lectures in the ECE900 Graduate Seminar, on November 18th we hosted Garrett Weinberg of the Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories (MERL). Garrett is a Member of the Research Staff at MERL in Cambridge, MA and I had a chance to work with him for the second year in …
Oct
21
Lexus Driving Simulator
The future of simulated driving has arrived… The developers at the Lexus research campus at Higashifuji, Japan, have created a highly sophisticated driving simulator. According to the automotive company, this is the largest and the most advanced driving simulator available today. The simulator serves as a symbolic pledge of Lexus’ dedication to the concept of …