"An Unscented Hound for Working Memory" and the Cognitive Adaptation of User Interfaces

Abstract

An Unscented Hound for Working Memory (AUHWM) is a new framework for the real-time tracking of human Working Memory (WM) that can be used to adapt computer interfaces to users' available cognitive resources. WM is the part of human cognition responsible for the short term storing and handling of information; it can, in stressful situations, under information overload or when suffering from dementia-like diseases, become severely limited, possibly leading to poor decision making. Our preliminary results suggest that AUHWM can provide a precise and timely assessment of WM capacity, so that the cognitive load a specific task imposes on users can be adapted, e.g., at the User Interface (UI) level. AUHWM is based on a low-level stochastic discrete model of human WM dynamics, implemented as a Gradient-Boosting-derived deterministic algorithm that simulates users' oblivion. AUHWM also performs Unscented Kalman filtering to track users' WM-specific parameters in real time, thus providing a dynamic assessment of their cognitive resources. Our approach has been tested and validated using data collected from Match$ ^2$s, a visual memory game played by 18 users in another study. Going beyond real-time WM tracking, AUHWM is intended to also be used for WM prediction, paving the way to the adaptation of tasks and their UIs in real time as a function of users' cognitive abilities; we detail an example of such an adapted system, and provide experimental evidence this approach could lead to future enhanced WM-adapted UIs.