Bored beyond Belief: How Automation is Boring us to Distraction

The inclusion of automation has been critical for increased safety and efficiency in complex systems such as aviation and process control, but one unintended consequence for human operators is boredom. In many phases of operation (i.e., en-route flight over the Atlantic and full-power nuclear power plant operations), operators are monitoring interfaces, waiting for the unlikely system anomaly. Such highly automated environments require levels of vigilance that are difficult for operators to maintain, and resulting boredom increases the likelihood of operator distraction, which ultimately can affect system performance if operators miss or respond late to critical events. This presentation will highlight the problems of sustained attention and boredom in highly automated environments. Panelists will discuss areas of future research as well as review other efforts of the Committee on Human-Systems Integration.