Evaluation of the cognitive load using pupil diameter measurements via eye tracking technology: a study with unmanned vehicle operators
Bulgarian Medical Journal, 2023, 17(1), 56-66.
VD. Aleksandrova1, L. Aleksiev1, D. Ivanova1, Z. Hubenova2, K. Metodiev2, R. I. Nikolova3
1 Department “Aviation and Maritime Medicine”, Military Medical Academy – Sofia
2 Space Research and Technology Institute, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences – Sofia
3 Department of Occupational Medicine, Faculty of Public Health, Medical University – Bulgaria
Abstract. Measuring the individual’s mental workload in real time while performing various human activities, is still a difficult task for scientists. However, the understanding of cognitive load in the working process is of key importance, because the excessive use of mental resources causing a condition of overload, which can generate information processing errors, lead to incorrect decisions and actions. Examining the level of workload is particularly important in the field of aviation, where human error in flight can result in aviation accidents with severe consequences. In the present study, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) operators are examined with a non-invasive oculographic method (Еye tracking) while performing a training simulation flight. The aim of this work is to evaluate the cognitive state by measuring the operators’ pupil diameter while operating an UAV, and to analyze which flight tasks cause the maximum mental workload during the flight.
Key words: Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), human operator, cognitive (mental) load, pupil diameter, Еye tracking
Address for correspondence: Lyubomir Aleksiev, MD, e-mail: aleksiev@vma.bg