Prof. Dr. Edmund Wascher, Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors
Research Programme:
Working environments are rapidly and continuously changing. Terms like "smart factory", the "internet of things", "Industry 4.0", "ubiquitous computing", or "informatory work" become increasingly important. This (r)evolution has substantial impact on the scientific discipline of ergonomics. Considering the design or evaluation of working environments, the interaction of humans with recent technologies is a challenging endeavor.
In the Dept. Ergonomics, human centered aspects of recent working environments from information uptake up to the user adequate design of workplaces are investigated.
Main targets of research are:
- Mechanisms and neural correlates of working memory
- Cognitive factors that affect information processing
- Impact of Human Factors like mental fatigue, age or task engagement on cognitive processing (also in work related contexts).
Methods range from highly controlled laboratory experiments applying multichannel EEG and brain stimulation, across different types of work-place simulations up to investigations at real work-places. Therefore mobile neurophysiological methods are developed as well as new methods to track neural correlates of information processing also in naturalistic situations.