Quantifying Cognitive Load in Wayfinding Information Review Using EEG: Fid-Bau Portal

Quantifying Cognitive Load in Wayfinding Information Review Using EEG

Wang, Yanchao / Wang, Qi / Du, Jing / Lin, Yingzi

Driven by the increasing complexity of built environments, firefighters are often exposed to extensive wayfinding information which could cause high cognitive load and ineffective or even dangerous decision making. To reduce injuries and fatal incidents in firefighters’ line of duty, this study aims at measuring the cognitive load and identifying the source of such cognitive overload in wayfinding information review. We developed a Sternberg test to induce cognitive load on participants pertaining to working memory development, where participants were required to memorize colors, letters, numbers, directions, icons, words, and letter combinations that are relevant to wayfinding tasks. We used an electroencephalogram (EEG) device to monitor neural activities especially in frontal, parietal, and occipital areas of brain. The fast Fourier transformation (FFT) was applied to separate the sub-band energy. The speed of response in Sternberg test and the EEG signals were compared to show the coherence between the results of the two methods in representing the cognitive load in the review test. Results indicate that the cognitive load arises from diverse information can be measured to help customize wayfinding information for controlled cognitive load of firefighters in wayfinding tasks.