Human Factors

Human Interaction with Technology

SJSU is the primary Human Systems Integration university partner at NASA Ames Research Center, contributing to all human factors work done there. Our researchers study the ways in which humans impact space travel, including the capabilities and limitations of people to help create safer launches and missions.

Back on Earth, human factors specializations at SJSU include autonomous driving, ergonomics, and industrial design applications from highway to home. Below is a rotating selection of our standout investigators in these fields.

   ○ Recent News and Highlights
   ○ Related Strength: Air and Space
   ○ Related Strength: Transportation and Urban Planning

• Selected Publications

  • Feist, G.  (2006). The Psychology of Science and the Origins of the Scientific Mind. Yale University Press.

    Huang, G. & Pitts, B. (2022). Takeover requests for automated driving: The effects of signal direction, lead time, and modality on takeover performance. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 165.

    Laraway, S., Snycerski, S., Pradhan, S., & Huitema, B. (2019). An overview of scientific reproducibility: Consideration of relevant issues for behavior science/analysis. Perspectives on Behavior Science, 42.

    Luo, Y., Coppola, S., Dixon, P., et al. (2020). A database of human gait performance on irregular and uneven surfaces collected by wearable sensors. Scientific Data, 7.

    Nathan-Roberts, D., et al. (2017). Looking Ahead: Human Factors in Sociotechnical Systems. Human Factors in Practice: Concepts and Applications, CRC Press.

    Strybel, D. & Kumar, A. (2020). Civilian pepper spray for self-defense: Understanding user perception and impact of design on user performance. International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics, 80. 

• Award Highlights

  • Kumar, (co-PI), “Respiratory Protection for Firefighters Responding to Wildland Fires” — Office of the President, UC Board of Regents, 2023

    Kumar (co-PI), “Industrial Assessment Center” — DoE, 2022

    Laraway, “Human Systems Integration: Collaborative Human Factors Research to Improve Safety, Efficiency, and Reliability of NASA’s Aeronautics and Space Missions” — NASA, 2020-21

    Laraway, “Human Systems Integration: Collaborative Human Factors Research to Improve Safety, Efficiency, and Reliability of NASA’s Aeronautics and Space Missions” — NASA, 2021-2022

    Nathan-Roberts, “UserWise Training Decay Grant” — UserWise, 2019

    Palmer, “Mobile Device Thermal Comfort - Study #2” — Google, Inc., 2022

    Snycerski, “Future Vertical Lift: Collaborative Research on Flight Control, Autonomous Rotorcraft, and Human-Systems Interface Design” — NASA, 2020-21

    Snycerski, “Future Vertical Lift: Collaborative Research on Flight Control, Autonomous Rotorcraft, and Human-Systems Interface Design” — NASA, 2021-22

• Affiliates

  • Mineta Transportation Institute

    NASA Ames Research Center

Featured Faculty

Gregory Feist
Professor of Psychology
Personality, Creativity, Psychology of Science, Motivated Reasoning, Mental Health, Psychology of Climate Change
ORCID: 0000-0002-3123-1069

Gaojian Huang
Assistant Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering
Human Factors, Automated Driving, Aging and Technology, Multimodal Displays
ORCID: 0000-0001-8139-7481

Anil Kumar
Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering
Human Factors, Automated Driving, Aging and Technology, Multimodal Displays
ORCID: 0000-0002-8546-4335

Sean Laraway
Professor of Psychology
Experimental Design, Data Analysis, Behavior Analysis, Sport Fan Behavior, Organizational behavior, Grant Writing and Management
ORCID: 0000-0001-8050-5620

Yue Luo
Assistant Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering
Human Factors and Ergonomics, Human-Robot Collaboration, Wearable Technology, Human Machine Interface, Data Analytics 
ORCID: 0000-0002-0062-3190

Dan Nathan-Roberts
Associate Professor in the School of Information
Human Factors, User Experience, Healthcare, Sociotechnical Systems
ORCID: 0000-0002-4428-1823

Evan Palmer
Associate Professor of Psychology
Attention, Perception, Vision, Visual Search, Human Factors
ORCID: 0000-0003-2791-4390

Susan Snycerski
Professor of Psychology
Behavior Analysis, Learning and Memory, Neuropsychopharmacology, Organizational Behavior, Applied Behavior Analysis, Psychopharmacology
ORCID: 0000-0001-8137-3885

Potential collaborators and members of the media may contact us at officeofresearch@sjsu.edu.