A Formal Approach to User Interface Design Using Hybrid System Theory

Optimal Synthesis Inc.(OSI) proposes to develop an aiding tool for user interface design that is based on mathematical formalism of hybrid system theory. The correctness of information content of a user interface is ensured by a special observability test that takes into account of human cognition and psychology. A possible mismatch between an operational mode perceived by a human operator and the one active in a machine is detected via an algorithm that infers the intent of the human operator and generates an alert if a discrepancy from the mode of the machine is found. The developed tool is evaluated by considering standard operations in the national air space in the absence and the presence of a system fault.