Measurement of Workload During Ezit-Seeking Behavior in an Underground Space using Heart Rate Variability
In this study, the time interval between successive heartbeats (R-R interval time) during walking through a passage in a flat building was measured as a preliminary experiment. Changes in the R-R interval time and heart rate variability were then analyzed. Heart rate variability was obtained by dividing the low frequency component (LF) by the high frequency component (HF), namely, LF/HF. As a result, it was revealed that, when walking through a flat passage at a constant speed, the sympathetic and the parasympathetic nerves were antagonized, and consequently, the changes in the R-R interval time and the LF/HF value decreased. The main experiment studied walking in an underground space. Specifically, subjects walked into an underground space from an above-ground entrance and, while seeking an exit, made a left-hand turn at a crossing, and walked to an exit that led back above ground. The R-R interval time during the walking was measured, then a questionnaire survey regarding seeking behavior was performed. The relationship between heart rate variability (LF/HF) and seeking behavior (as recorded by a video camera) was analyzed in detail. The following results were obtained from the main experiment: (1) the LF/HF value increased as the subjects approached a place where the passage was curved and the course in front was not easily seen, (2) the LF/HF value increased when the underground environment changed at a place where the slope ended and the straight passage started, (3) a peak of the LF/HF value was obtained about 10 sec before the behavior of “stop walking was observed, and (4) the LF/HF value increased when determining the course and making a left-hand turn at the crossing. In this study, the LF/HF value increased (the sympathetic nerves became active) when the subjects were at places where the workload was considered to be heavy, such as the blind corner and the crossing where a left-hand turn was to be made, and when subjects were in doubt of the course and stopped walking. Based on the above results, it was shown that changes in workload at every moment during exit seeking could be measured.
Kaoru Honda
Faculty of Literature and Social Sciences, Yamagata University, Japan
国际会议
17th World Congress on Ergonomics(第十七届国际人类工效学大会)
北京
英文
1-6
2009-08-09（万方平台首次上网日期，不代表论文的发表时间）