Operations and Human Factors

My research is aimed at supporting pilot performance in demanding situations which may, for example, lead to startle or surprise, spatial disorientation, and loss-of-control in-flight.

I believe that technology should support our performance, safety, well-being and our strive for happiness. Therefore, I work on Human-Technology Symbiosis.

For humans and AI applications to function effectively and responsibly, they need to collaborate. My research revolves around shaping that human-AI collaboration.

With my research and education I intend to improve the understanding, appreciation, and truly (be-cause considering the core of the problem) useful application of knowledge on the human vestibular system, including the integration of sensory and cognitive information by the brain. This concerns physical and visual (virtual) motion, affecting health, safety, performance, perception and wellbeing.

My research area is human decision making in the context of safety. A main finding in this field is that human decision making skills are far from optimal. Most of our decisions are made intuitively, based on incomplete knowledge, and with limited reflection. In our research we investigate these pitfalls and provide suggestions for procedures, decision support and training.

I am an expert in transdisciplinary work and systems thinking. Specifically, I am concerned with building bridges between the theoretical concept of systems thinking, and (unruly) practice. I do this from my specialization in "human thinking capacity under extreme circumstances". You can contact me for questions on the development of TNO's "system innovation methodology" and the experimental system tables we are currently running.

Progress in artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, conversational agents, connectivity and sensing technology increases the capabilities of physical and virtual agents to operate more and more autonomously, possibly as team members, companions or partners of humans. However, the information and decision-making processes of these agents differ from human’s processes fundamentally, providing new opportunities and risks for advancing the joint human-AI performance and human well-being.

My research and teaching activities are about human perception and interaction in computer simulated worlds, focusing on tactile and brain-computer interfaces for navigating simulated worlds; effect, stress and body ownership in augmented reality; and meaningful control of autonomous intelligent systems.