Cognitive modelling and human-machine interactions in dynamic environments

This paper gives an overview of the current state of the art in man machine systems interaction studies, focusing on the problems derived from highly automated working environments and the role of humans in the control loop. In particular, it is argued that there is a need for sound approaches to design and analysis of Man-Machine Interaction (MMI), which stem from the contribution of three expertises in interfacing domains, namely engineering, computer science and psychology: engineering for understanding and modelling plants and their material and energy conservation principles; psychology for understanding and modelling humans and their cognitive behaviours; computer science for converting models in sound simulations running in appropriate computer architectures. The Cognitive Simulation Model (COSIMO), currently being developed at the Ispra JRC, is the result of an attempt to confine within the limited boundaries of a computer simulation the contributions from these three domains. The cognitive model is embedded in a dynamic environment represented by a physical plant, in which incoming cues of data describing the environment vary both as a consequence of the previous outputs gene-rated by the model and of the activity of the physical system under control. The COSIMO model has been developed on the basis of well known theories of cognition and it has been included in a computer Blackboard architecture. A number of laboratory study cases and of real applications have indicated the advantages and the drawbacks of COSIMO in its current state of development. In particular, the ability of COSIMO to simulate immediate reasoning processes and the needs for further development of inference reasoning processes have been demonstrated.