Themes of research
With a multidisciplinary team - cognitive psychology, ergonomics, cognitive neuroscience - Lescot's research offers complementary viewpoints on key issues relating to mobility and road safety. The anthropocentric approach common to the laboratory makes it possible to analyse travel activity by working on contextualised actions, i.e. actions associated with the travel context in which they take place. This makes it possible to study the behaviour of different populations (young, elderly, disabled, etc.). Furthermore, mobility is constantly evolving and our work enables us to work on these developments in terms of both safety and new needs for specific or non-specific populations, whether in terms of active mobility or automated driving. Lescot's areas of research are as follows:
The work carried out in this area therefore studies the consequences for road safety of impaired attentional states caused by distractions induced either by in-vehicle activities (smartphone manipulation), or by thoughts unrelated to driving (wandering thoughts, planning and problem solving), or by an emotional state (e.g. sadness, anger, anxiety) likely to affect perceptual-cognitive processes while driving. In the context of autonomous driving and the need to regain control of the vehicle quickly and effectively, these research questions will continue to motivate a great deal of work. Studies aimed at improving the conspicuity of vulnerable road users in an urban environment, in particular by studying the perceptive-cognitive processes involved in their detection by motorists, will be stepped up. Road safety issues are becoming increasingly important, particularly in the context of personal mobility devices (PMDs).
The development of driver assistance systems with very high levels of delegation marks a turning point in the study of driving activity and will raise new questions in terms of road safety. The need to diagnose the state of the driver and his or her activity appears to be crucial, depending on the level of delegation, in order to prevent difficulties during the system use and recovery phases. This monitoring can also improve user comfort by developing countermeasures adapted to certain states of the driver (e.g. emotional regulation). The aim of the work will therefore be to (1) identify the most relevant indicators for assessing the driver's cognitive availability and emotional state and (2) carry out automated detection of these internal states with a view to regulating them.
This area also includes all the work relating to computer simulation of the driver's mental activities (COSMODRIVE model), ranging from the perception of information to the implementation of driving behaviour, via the modelling of the processes of 'situation awareness', risk assessment, decision-making and activity planning. This more fundamental research into the analysis of activity and the simulation of human cognition (including from the point of view of driving errors) will continue and will be used to design driver assistance and automation functions adapted to real needs and user characteristics, using a Human Centred Design approach. We will also be looking at the acceptability (before use) and acceptance (after use, whether real or virtual) of these new technologies for tomorrow's auto-mobility. Finally, this work will aim to support a modelling approach for the 'Man-Machine System' as a whole, which will in turn feed into the modelling of the human operator and his activity.
Lescot has a large number of 'naturalistic driving' recordings in ordinary driving contexts and in the context of driving autonomous shuttles. The use of original data mining methods has already made it possible to characterise critical scenarios from the point of view of road safety between automated vehicles and other road users. The potential for exploration is such that even more detailed analyses will be carried out in the coming years.
Identifying the influence of health status on mobility is fundamental to offering support aimed at reducing these difficulties. The aim is therefore to gain a better understanding of the impact of cognitive, motor or sensory deficits linked to age, disability or pathology on mobility activities. The aim is also to identify the compensatory mechanisms that individuals put in place over time to limit these effects. Cognitive functions, particularly executive functions, are being explored in greater depth, as they are particularly affected by physiological ageing and/or the onset of neurodegenerative disease. Individuals' awareness of their own abilities or difficulties (metacognition) is also taken into account, as this variable plays a major role in regulating cognition and behaviour, and by extension mobility: a person who is aware of his or her own physical and cognitive limitations will adapt his or her travel accordingly.
The research carried out in this area will continue to be carried out in close collaboration with healthcare professionals (neurologists, occupational therapists, neuropsychologists, physical medicine and rehabilitation physicians) and will address the problems of assessing the ability to drive of people with cerebral palsy or patients with neurocognitive disorders. For example, this will involve studying the benefits of programmes to encourage people who have suffered a stroke to resume driving or, conversely, to support the gradual cessation of driving in the case of people with neuro-cognitive disorders. In a similar vein, the accessibility and acceptability of automated vehicles for the elderly raise new research questions that the laboratory has begun to address. Expectations on the part of society and specialist circles are high and will be given particular attention.
In addition, research initiated a few years ago into preventing the risk of falls in the elderly, with or without age-related pathologies, will be actively pursued in the coming years. The benefits of an intensive physical programme for people with Parkinson's disease are real and will be the subject of further research.
Mobility is also seen as a protective factor that plays an extremely important role in both the health and social participation of individuals. Analysis of the processes involved in compensating for disability will also be the subject of a number of studies, both in terms of intervention approaches (training, re-education or support programmes) and in the provision of technical or technological solutions or adaptations to the environment designed to promote mobility.
The scientific areas in which Lescot is working and will continue its research activities in the coming years are particularly promising, as they respond to societal, road safety, transport psychology and health issues. They concern the safety of vulnerable road users such as cyclists and scooter users, who are increasingly present on the roads in both urban and rural areas. They deal with the development of automated vehicles and the consequences of these new modes of transport on mobility in terms of safety and acceptability, but also in terms of cognitive adaptation both with other non-automated vehicles and with pedestrians. The scientific themes address the issues of maintaining driving ability for the elderly and returning to driving for people with disabilities. Finally, they refine theoretical knowledge of the cognitive processes developed by users during travel in real or simulated situations.