ED Mathématiques et Informatique
Tangible interactions for railway operations in control centres
by Maudeline MARLIER (LaBRI - Laboratoire Bordelais de Recherche en Informatique)
The defense will take place at 14h00 - Ada Lovelace Centre Inria de l'université de Bordeaux 200 Av. de la Vieille Tour, 33405 Talence
in front of the jury composed of
- Arnaud PROUZEAU - Chargé de recherche - Centre Inria de Saclay - Directeur de these
- Catherine LETONDAL - Professeure associée - ENAC - Rapporteur
- Valérie MAQUIL - Directrice de recherche - Institute of Science and Technology - Rapporteur
- Martin HACHET - Directeur de recherche - Centre Inria de Bordeaux - CoDirecteur de these
- Nadine COUTURE - Professeure - ESTIA, Université de Bordeaux - Examinateur
- Samuel HURON - Maître de conférences - Telecom Paris - Examinateur
This thesis explores how Tangible User Interfaces (TUIs) and actuated tangible objects can address collaboration and decision-making challenges in railway control centres. While railway control centres are increasingly incorporating digital tools, particularly with the expanding train traffic worldwide, the role of humans remains essential, especially during crises, when operators need to collaborate to make critical decisions. To tackle these challenges, this research begins with an analysis of railway control centres and the potential of TUIs to transform interactions by offering physical forms for digital information. From this analysis, I developed a tabletop prototype that demonstrated how tangible interactions can improve operators' understanding of rail traffic scenarios and decision outcomes. I extended this concept by designing a second prototype. This new iteration introduced actuated tangible interactions to address more complex challenges, particularly enhancing collaboration and efficiency during crisis situations. Together, these prototypes explore the evolving potential of TUIs to transform railway control operations. Then, I investigates actuated tangible feedback in remote collaboration. I conducted two user studies: the first assessed the detectability of actuated tangible objects compared to visual-only feedback during a cognitively demanding task, showing that tangibles were significantly more noticeable. The second study focused on collaborative problem-solving, testing if tangible feedback allowed users to perceive their partner's actions and location without requiring focused attention. Qualitative findings suggest that tangibles can offer a more embodied and effective approach to maintaining awareness in remote collaborative environments. Overall, this work highlights the value of TUIs and actuated interfaces to share information, help operators visualise, compare, and resolve incidents collaboratively while understanding the consequences of decisions.