Novel Developments in Formal Methods for Human Factors Engineering

Abstract

Formal methods are robust tools and techniques for modeling, specifying, and mathematically proving properties about (verifying) systems. They are particularly good at both finding unexpected problems that arise from complex system interactions and proving that specific types of problems will never manifest. Formal methods have predominantly been used in the analysis and design of computer hardware and software systems. However, a growing research area within the human factors engineering community has been examining how formal methods can be used to prove whether problems exist in systems that rely on human-automation and human-human interaction for their safe operation. This symposium contains four papers by researchers who have been pushing the boundaries of where and how formal methods can be used in human factors engineering.