A human cyber-physical system for human-centered computing in seafaring

Abstract

Human cyber-physical systems present an appealing platform for facilitating human-centered computing, particularly in environments where humans are required to interact with systems comprised of cyber and physical layers. Universally accepted elements of a human cyber-physical system, and interactions among these elements, do not appear to emerge in literature. To address this, a human cyber-physical system architecture is offered, led by the seafaring focus of this study. A human cyber-physical system implementation, called Mariner 4.0, for monitoring motion sickness of seafarers is presented to demonstrate the operation of a human cyber-physical system as a platform for human-centered computing. The human cyber-physical system implementation enabled the digital representation of the state of motion sickness and location of a seafarer, and conveyance of related information through a state monitor display. Using data captured on board South Africa’s polar supply and research vessel, the SA Agulhas II, results showed that the human cyber-physical system incorporated location-specific variation in motion exposure experienced between two seafarers in motion sickness computations through facilitating individualized data acquisition and integration.