MINIMA Project: Detecting and Mitigating the Negative Impact of Automation Bruno Berberian 1(&) , Oliver Ohneiser 2 , Francesca De Crescenzio 3 , Fabio Babiloni 4 , Gianluca Di Flumeri 4 , and Andreas Hasselberg 2 1 French Aerospace Lab, ONERA, Salon Air, France bruno.berberian@onera.fr 2 German Aerospace Center (DLR), Braunschweig, Germany 3 University of Bologna, Forlì, Italy 4 BrainSigns srl, Rome, Italy Abstract. In this paper, we present the preliminary steps conducted in the framework of the research project Mitigating Negative Impacts of Monitoring high levels of Automation (MINIMA). The main objectives of MINIMA are (i) to develop vigilance and attention neuro-physiological indexes, and (ii) to implement them in a system that can adapt its behavior and guide the operator ’s attention. The goal is to mitigate negative impacts of the foreseen increasing automation in future Air Traffic Control (ATC) scenarios on Air Traffic Con- troller (ATCo) performance. The first step of research activities consists of better comprehension of Out-Of-The-Loop (OOTL) phenomena and of current methods to measure and compensate such effects. Based on this State of the Art, we propose the MINIMA concept, i.e. a dynamic adaptation of the task envi- ronment which is foreseen as a major requirement to keep the human ‘in the loop’, perfectly aware of the traffic situation. In the second part of this paper, we give details about the highly automated Terminal Manoeuvring Area selected as case study. Additionally, we describe the adaptation mechanisms that are planned to be implemented into this task environment and analyzed in the MINIMA project. Finally, the document provides information about the tech- nical implementation of the vigilance and attention measurement that will be used to trigger adaptation of the task environment. Keywords: Air traffic controller Á Terminal Manoeuvring Area Á Automation Á Vigilance Á Attention Á Adaptive task and support activation Á Attention guidance Á Electroencephalography 1 Introduction Over the past few years the global air traffic growth has exhibited a fairly stable positive trend, even through economic immobility, financial crisis and increased security concerns. According to a prevailing opinion, this trend is unlikely to change in the future, although a number of contextual factors, such as political climate, economy, environmental issues, safety issues and security issues may affect its actual rate. Fur- ther, according to the ‘Free Flight’ and the ‘4D Trajectory Management’ concepts, different types of aircraft, such as manned, unmanned, and autonomous aircraft, as well © Springer International Publishing AG 2017 D. Harris (Ed.): EPCE 2017, Part I, LNAI 10275, pp. 87–105, 2017. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-58472-0_8