Cognitive Analysis of a PC Based Simulation of a Powered Wheelchair Navigation Task

Shared control, also known as sensor- based control, is an important technique utilised in today's Rehabilitation Integrated Systems (RISs). The degree of sharing between the disabled user and the system is dependent upon the user's abilities and is determined with actual and virtual driving tests. A mechanism of how people extract control variables from sensory data is required. A computerised experiment, Windows™ programmed 2-D simulation of a powered wheelchair navigation task, has been conceived for collecting such useful information. The experiment is also used in an attempt to quantify some navigation measurements such as cognitive complexity and safety as a fundamental component of the authors' safety research of RISs. This paper presents an in-depth cognitive task analysis of the data obtained from the simulation experiment. It was derived from the authors' early rehabilitation engineering research and will provide a basis for further investigations aiming at the enhancement of the independence of disabled people.