Measurement of a Navigator's Mental Workload for Ship Handling Based on Saliva Nitric Oxide Assay

Abstract

We ultimately propose that salivary NO₃^- shows mental workload of ship navigators, and confirm that new navigators can find out and avoid the situations where veteran navigators accumulate mental workload by using salivary NO₃^- measurement device. There are various physiological indices in the world, for example heart rate variability (R-R interval), nasal temperature, and salivary amylase, these are exactly good indices but cannot represent quick response on the spot and the trend like a moving average as well as salivary NO₃^-. We must create the salivary NO₃^- measurement device because this research, to evaluate the mental workload of navigators using salivary NO₃^-, is first challenge worldwide. We confirmed the response of students for simulator based training, and we were carried out the experiment for professionals on a real ship. So this paper proposes that we evaluate salivary NO₃^- in a daily life, for example, for smoking, eating, car driving, and exercising, and then that salivary NO₃^- shows a navigator's mental workload for ship handling in the simulator and a real ship.