Lecture series to address human-automation relationships Published Nov. 9, 2011 By Patrick Ruth 711th Human Performance Wing WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio -- The next 711 HPW Chief Scientist's Office Guest Lecture Series presentation will be Nov. 18 from 2:30 to 4 p.m. in the Building 441 Auditorium on Area B and features the intimate and pervasive relationship between humans and technology . Video teleconferencing will be available for those at Ft. Sam Houston, Texas. The lecture features Dr. John Lee, Emerson Professor in the Dept. of Industrial and Systems Engineering at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Dr. Lee is an expert on driver distraction, trust in automation, human factors engineering, and using psychology to guide the design of technology so it works for people. The relationship between people and technology has become increasingly intimate and pervasive as technology becomes more capable. This increased capability has profound implications for the relationship between humans and the technology. Previous metaphors of automation as a tool or as a subordinate under supervisory control may fail to capture the complex dynamics of human-automation cooperation. This presentation explores other metaphors and models of this relationship that consider dynamic co-adaptation, such as the dynamics of trust in a marriage. Dr. Lee is also the director of the Cognitive Systems Laboratory, which focuses on cognitive engineering where the challenge is to understand and improve the capacity of joint human-technology systems. This research has considered technology insertion in the maritime industry, ground transportation, tele-operation, and process control. A specific example is the distraction potential of in-vehicle information systems, such as cell phones and e-mail. Another example is the role of trust and appropriate reliance in the supervisory control of automation, such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). In each of these examples, the ultimate goal is to develop computational models of human performance and design principles that can support effective and humane use of technology. The seminar is open only to base personnel; it is not open to the general public.