Detection and modeling of states of attention and sleep based on psychophysiological or neurophysiological signals

Attention is a cognitive function that substantially affects the successful execution of working tasks. Alertness is a state of awareness and responsiveness, enabling individuals to remain attentive and react promptly to their environment. Estimation of attention from psychophysiological or neurophysiological signals like eye-tacking and electroencephalography (EEG) can help detect deteriorated alertness or vigilance. Such systems could help prevent human error and improve human-computer interaction in various ways. For example, in driving a bus, truck, or car, a system that estimates the restfulness of a power nap (e.g., on a parking lot) or estimates the driver's alertness and vigilance post-nap could determine the time until the driver is able to drive again and adjust car functions (e.g., by restricting the maximum allowed speed), and provide this information to the driver. Shift workers in the health sector are another example, as their tasks require high levels of attention, which can decline with reduced alertness. A system that assesses a healthcare worker’s alertness and vigilance could determine when they are sufficiently alert to resume their duties after a short rest. It could then provide this information to the worker or their supervisor to ensure optimal performance and patient safety. Similar circumstances might occur in other domains such as other kinds of land transport (trains), aviation, shipping, industrial production, quality assurance, health or safety, and security surveillance. This collection focuses on real-time estimation in practical, realistic scenarios using the comparatively low-intrusive data collection techniques of eye-tracking and EEG.

In this Research Topic, we welcome:

(1) studies in realistic scenarios dealing with attention or alertness
(2) methods for detection, modeling, classification, and estimation of attention or alertness
(3) applications to Human-Computer Interaction considering attention or alertness.

Authors should consider the ethical and legal implications of alertness monitoring in their proposed applications, e.g., when the data is accessible to the employer or insurance companies.

Keywords: Neuroergonomics, EEG, eye tracking

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