How to Measure Alert Fatigue by Using Physiological Signals?

This paper introduces alert fatigue and presents methods to measure alert fatigue by using physiological signals. Alert fatigue is a phenomenon that which an individual is constantly exposed to frequent alarms and becomes desensitized to them. Blind spots are one leading cause of struck-by accidents, which is one most common causes of fatal accidents on construction sites. To reduce such accidents, construction equipment is equipped with an alarm system. However, the frequent alarm is inevitable due to the dynamic nature of construction sites and the situation can lead to alert fatigue. This paper introduces alert fatigue and proposes methods to use physiological signals such as electroencephalography, electrodermal activity, and event-related potential for the measurement of alert fatigue. Specifically, this paper presents how raw data from the physiological sensors measuring such signals can be processed to measure alert fatigue. By comparing the processed physiological data to behavioral data, validity of the measurement is tested. Using preliminary experimental results, this paper validates that physiological signals can be useful to measure alert fatigue. The findings of this study can contribute to investigating alert fatigue, which will lead to lowering the struck-by accidents caused by blind spots.