Haptic Vest-Attention Assistance for Outside Field-of-View Guidance and Enhanced Human–Robot Interaction

Abstract

With the arrival of the Fifth Industrial Revolution, human augmentation through assistive technologies is rapidly advancing. This article presents the first neuroergonomic assessment of a haptic vest as a human attention management device. The vest enables operators to monitor and respond to tasks outside their direct line of sight by leveraging the underutilized somatosensory channel, reducing overload on visual and auditory pathways while maintaining situational awareness. We assessed the vest in a simulated factory setting using objective electroencephalography measurements and subjective workload assessments. Frontal midline theta (Fm<inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\uptheta$</tex-math></inline-formula>) band power indicated mental effort, complemented by NASA task load index (TLX) ratings. Our results indicate a significant advantage for haptic cues over visual prompts, supported by improved NASA TLX scores and reduced Fm<inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\uptheta$</tex-math></inline-formula> power, which suggests a decrease in cognitive strain. This study integrates key human factors and offers a neuroergonomic framework for human augmentation in industrial environments, supporting the role of a haptic interface in enhancing human–computer interaction.