Domains of Interest 
　

Visual ergonomics as it relates to:

• Visually demanding work tasks and leisure activities

• The human visual system and perception

• Environmental conditions e.g. illumination, indoor air quality

• Optometry and ophthalmology, e.g. vision corrections for people with normal vision and  vision impairment, ageing vision, visual fatigue

• Visual displays and information design

• Workstation design, visual comfort and musculoskeletal disorders

 

Objectives
　

The objectives of the Visual Ergonomics Technical Committee are to:

• Facilitate international cross-disciplinary communication and collaboration among professionals with an interest in Visual Ergonomics

• Promote basic and applied ergonomic research within the domain of Visual Ergonomics

• Promote best ergonomics practice within the domain of Visual Ergonomics so that comfortable, safe and efficient work and leisure activities are achieved

• Encourage high standards within academic and practical Visual Ergonomics education

Organizational Structure

• The Technical Committee is a peer group of researchers, practitioners and educators without a hierarchical substructure.

Achievement

February 2012: Two Visual Ergonomics parallel sessions and one joint session with Work With Computing Systems were delivered at the IEA World Congress Recife, Brazil (13 oral presentations). These papers can be accessed at http://iospress.metapress.com/content/q66420837m77

Action Plan
　

Activities	Description	Responsible	Milestone /Timeline	Timeline
Establish a definition of Visual Ergonomics	Planning	Chair and Co-chair	Definition published on website	2012
Write and publish a short annotated bibliography on Visual Ergonomics	Planning	Magne Helland	Paper prepared and published	2012
Prepare for publications of selected papers in a special issue of WORK	Planning	Chair and co-chair	Selected papers ready to print	2012-2013
Organize parallel sessions for the IEA World Congress in 2015 – Melbourne, Australia	Planning and review of session proposals	Chair and co-chair	According to congress specifications	2013-2015

Proposed Definition of Visual Ergonomics – Now open for public comment

A definition of visual ergonomics has been developed and proposed by the Nordic Ergonomics Society and is based on the general definition of ergonomics already adopted by the International Ergonomics Association.

Before this definition is adopted by the IEA Visual Ergonomics Technical Committee, we invite feedback and comments.

The proposed definition is:

           “Visual ergonomics is the multidisciplinary science concerned with the understanding of visual processes as they affect humans and the interactions between humans and other elements of a system. It includes the application of related theoretical principles, methods, and data for the design and assessments of systems to optimize human well-being and overall system performance. Relevant topics include the visual environment, such as illumination and visually demanding work and tasks, as well as visual system function and dysfunction, visual performance, visual strain and safety, and visual corrections and aids.”

If you have any comments or suggestions concerning this definition, please email Jennifer Long at jlong@visualergonomics.com.au before the 5th April 2012.