Body posture as an indicator of workload in mental work

Area of Science:

• Ergonomics
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Occupational Health

Background:

• Human behaviors during work are linked to mental activities.
• A new method using observable behaviors, independent of task execution, is proposed for mental workload assessment.
• This approach offers a supplementary tool for evaluating workload in complex cognitive environments.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between body posture and workload during simulated mental tasks.
• To determine if body posture can serve as an indicator of mental workload.
• To explore the application of posture analysis in assessing workload in various professional settings.

Main Methods:

• Quantitative analysis of body posture using a video-based system.
• Measurement of key postural parameters: head-to-display distance, shoulder-hip distance, and trunk angles.
• Simulation of four distinct mental tasks on a computer to elicit varying workloads.

Main Results:

• Significant correlations were found between tasks and changes in head-to-display distance (p < .001) and trunk angles (p < .001).
• An inverse relationship was observed: the distance between the head and display decreased as workload increased (p = .007).
• These findings demonstrate that specific body posture metrics are sensitive to workload variations.

Conclusions:

• Body posture serves as a reliable indicator for assessing overall mental workload.
• The proposed posture-based method is potentially valuable for real-time workload monitoring in high-demand professions.
• Applications include monitoring mental states in critical environments like air traffic control and rail dispatching.