Thursday was Usability Day around the world, and this was the fifth year Michigan Tech was involved. The event celebrates usability, when technologies or procedures make sense to us and when we can learn–and remember–how to use them, make few errors and feel satisfied with our experiences.
The Human Interface Design Enterprise was showing off their driver simulator in Rekhi Hall.
It was one of a couple of major projects the group has taken on, according to Margo Woller-Carter, a PhD student in applied cognitive science and human factors.
“We are using a Uconnect system from Chrysler to test for driver distraction,” she said. “We designed this driver simulator to use with it, and we will also be doing some eye-tracking for them.” Uconnect was a multimedia system on steroids: entertainment, phone, navigation, voice command, controls, and wifi: perfect for testing for distractions. The Enterprise was in the second year of a three-year contract with Chrysler.
Read more at Tech Today, by Dennis Walikainen.