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A critical part of traffic safety is a driver’s ability to detect and respond to emergency roadway hazards. This thesis uses eye movements and motor responses to divide driver perception-response time in three stages: perception, inspection, and movement time. The effects of cognitive distraction and repeated exposure on each stage were investigated for three distinct hazards (left-turning vehicle, pedestrian, right-incursion vehicle). In general, there were varying effects of cognitive distraction observed depending on the hazard being responded to. Cognitive distraction resulted in a significant increase in perception times for the pedestrian and right-incursion vehicle hazards, whereas cognitive distraction resulted in significantly longer inspection times for the left-turning vehicle hazard. When considering the effect of repeated scenario exposure, perception times were the most greatly affected. Perception times were significantly shorter during the second exposure to the left-turning vehicle hazard in the baseline condition, and for all hazards in the distraction condition.

A critical part of traffic safety is a driver’s ability to detect and respond to emergency roadway hazards. This thesis uses eye movements and motor responses to divide driver perception-response time in three stages: perception, inspection, and movement time. The effects of cognitive distraction and repeated exposure on each stage were investigated for three distinct hazards (left-turning vehicle, pedestrian, right-incursion vehicle). In general, there were varying effects of cognitive distraction observed depending on the hazard being responded to. Cognitive distraction resulted in a significant increase in perception times for the pedestrian and right-incursion vehicle hazards, whereas cognitive distraction resulted in significantly longer inspection times for the left-turning vehicle hazard. When considering the effect of repeated scenario exposure, perception times were the most greatly affected. Perception times were significantly shorter during the second exposure to the left-turning vehicle hazard in the baseline condition, and for all hazards in the distraction condition.

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It soon becomes apparent to any student of the Government Regulation of Air Transport that most countries have rules appertaining to the maximum number of hours during which a member of the flight crew of an aircraft may be on duty on the ground and in the air, and the minimum number of hours' rest which shall be accorded such a member. [...]

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How and why the scale of streets and squares has evolved from intimate and human settings to the contemporary neglect of human needs in open space is the focus of investigation in this research. An understanding of the concept of "human scale" establishes the variables that characterize humanly-scaled open space, which in turn identify transformations in the urban environment. In addition, the origins and development of zoning regulations help to trace the factors that degrade urban space and influence the loss of human scale. This loss has been identified in the adaptation of pre-industrial urban space to the novelties of technological and industrial expansion. The complexity of solutions to such issues as traffic congestion, the urgent need for new housing accommodation, overcrowding and hygienic problems influenced the new regulations that directly altered human scale through changes in street dimensions, land use patterns and size of houses and lots. In post-WW II developments these regulations became the single design tool and they greatly impeded the establishment of human scale. Recent changes in urban design practice and the reintroduction of human scale to the design of open space are not only a demonstration of increasing sensitivity towards aesthetic qualities but also a product of the new socio-economic and environmental climate. Through analysis of compositional laws and the planning practice of different Montreal residential neighborhoods over the last hundred years the author demonstrates how visual quality and human scale are the product of a complex series of socio-economic, technical and political issues.

As a result of the diversity of home buyers within the current housing market, houses are increasingly designed with but little user input into the overall design process. Home builders require the development of design tools which will accommodate user needs within specific housing markets. This thesis investigates the reaction of builders to the participation of home buyers in the design process through the use of computer-aided design (CAD). / A review of the role of computers within the homebuilding industry is provided, including an historical overview of the use of CAD. The state of the art in CAD software applications is explored, with an assessment made of three low-cost software programs. Following a description of the existing design process in the homebuilding industry, a proposed system of user participation is outlined. A survey is taken of six builders in the Montreal and Ottawa regions to determine industry response to home buyer use of CAD as a design tool. / An analysis of the survey results reveals that although the builders are not currently participants in such a process, they are tentatively positive in their receptiveness to the idea of user-related CAD. The builders express many reservations concerning the available CAD systems, and they declare little interest in adopting the process as it presently exists. The relevant computer programs are found wanting, revealing a need for further development of both the software applications and the procedure for implementing CAD at the user participation level. Suggestions are offered for improvements in the process to the benefit of builder, designer, and end user.

Most multi-user horizontal interactive surfaces, or tabletop computers, cannot determine which user has performed a given action. These tabletops are less capable than identity-aware (IA) tabletops, which can. However, current research on IA is scarce and speculative. Notably, no one has rigorously compared the power of IA and non-IA devices, so evidence that IA enables groups to work better together is lacking. My thesis establishes an identity-aware perspective for interactive surface design. First, I have constructed an experiment to determine that IA can improve the effectiveness of small collaborative groups. A second experiment compares several emulation techniques designed to bring the benefits of IA to non-IA devices. I explore IA in detail through examples, present some open problems involving IA, and discuss promising solutions. Taken as a whole, this document serves as a comprehensive introduction to the study of identity awareness and a springboard for future research on the topic.