About
The User Performance Lab (UPL) falls under the Human Factors & Egonomics research area in the Department of Systems Design Engineering at the University of Waterloo. The lab's research areas broadly span surface transportation human factors, healthcare human factors and safety. They use a variety of experimental techniques to measure human performance and study human behavior. The core theme of their work is centred around the etiology of crashes (or errors) or the study of crash (error) causation. The goal is to advance user safety by accounting for the limitations of both, infrastructure and interface device design.
Research Interests
- Road User (drivers, pedestrians, bicyclists and motorcyclists) safety
- Caregiver Behavior and Medical Errors
- Autonomous vehicles, Connected vehicles and Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS)
- Design and assessment of Traffic Control Devices, Roadway Infrastructure and Automotive Interfaces
- Application of Virtual Environments for Rehabilitation and Occupational Therapy.
- Development and evaluation of population-specific, cognitive Training Interventions (novice drivers, older drivers aged 65 and above, pedestrians, special population with ADHD and mild cognitive impairments)
- Measurement of Driver Distraction, Fatigue, Mental Workload and Situation Awareness.