Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 1.2 Profiles of construction tasks (Wang et al., 2006a)
Task profile factors
Profile factor descriptions
Construction cases
Mental requirements
Relevant to perceptual and cognitive tasks involved in
performing a construction task. Perceptual tasks are those
attributable to sensory comprehension. Cognitive tasks are
those involved in the reasoning and volitional processes that
translate between perception and action.
Identifying and detecting an object of interest among a cluster
of objects could influence the user's focus of attention.
There is need for ameans of drawing the worker's attention
to specific design or construction features.
Physical requirements
The wearing of mobile systems while performing a construction
task may increase physical occupancy.
A worker with hand(s) preoccupied by an assembly task may
have difficulty in simultaneously using mobile computing
systems.
Working environment
Factors include situational awareness requirements, indoor/
outdoor location, noise level, work area hazards, working
volume etc.
Aural display and speech recognition devices do not work in
noisy working environments.
Task difficulty
Refers to the degree of difficulty for performing a task. The
difficulty of the task could be as high as strategic planning
which is characterized by unstructured decision making and
the application of creativity. It could also be as low as
operational tasks characterized by the fact that tasks, goals,
and resources have been carefully defined.
Upper management involved in the strategic planning routine
might need high sophistication of mobile computing
devices in every regard, especially the coordination
functionalities among different parties.
Task interdependence
The degree to which a task is related to other tasks, and as a
result the extent to which coordination with other tasks is
required (Thompson, 1967).
Tasks with high interdependence, such as project
management, generally require a significant amount of
coordination.
Hazards issues
Safety issues can play a role and limit the attention that a user
can devote to a mobile system, such as when they are
driving a vehicle (Tarasewich, 2003).
If the construction task is to be performed under potentially
dangerous conditions, where workers need to keep high
situational awareness and update knowledge of the
surroundings in real time, the peripheral devices should be
wearable enough so that they may not occupy too much of
the worker's mobility.
Time criticality
Defined as the importance with which a task needs to be
performed promptly (urgency).
Some mobile systems can support urgent tasks by providing
the notification of maintenance staff about such
emergency situations as equipment breakdown.
Physical disposition
The physical disposition for the work task should be considered
in terms of such factors as motion, body position etc. The
physical disposition may determine the appropriateness of
certain interaction tools or mechanisms.
In a clustered or congested working volume (e.g. HVAC
piping corridor or around special equipment), a body-
based human-mobile system interaction metaphor is not
as appropriate.
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