Interface Design and Display Modalities to Improve the Vehicle Inspection Process

There is a direct need in industry to improve the in-production vehicle inspection process and to support mobility for inspection stations. In this paper we present a novel interface design implemented on three multi-modal prototype systems, in which design was based on results from an initial field study we conducted. The design of these systems incorporate two main objectives: 1) enforce a systematic check on each of the items on the list to reduce missed items and 2) facilitate mobility in that the tools used to assist in inspection can be installed at one area and then later easily moved to another area. Our novel graphical software interface aims to enforce systematic checks through incorporation of a system-directed delivery of the checklist items with options for error correction and support of dynamic inspection, where items identified for inspection may differ among checkpoints. We have designed three hardware configurations that support our interface, with aims to achieve mobility from one inspection area to another, leave both hands free for inspection, and incorporate a more convenient way to refer to the list while conducting an inspection. This paper additionally presents preliminary feedback and suggestions for improvement from a pilot study conducted on our interface implemented on three hardware configurations. In the future we plan to incorporate the suggestions from the pilot study and to conduct a more formal evaluation on our multi-modal systems.