Influence Of Vibration On Workload While Reading And Writing On Indian Trains

The effect of tri-axial random vibration on reading and writing was investigated. Additionally the influence of posture and language on these two tasks was tested. 20 participants (10 males, 10 females) were assessed using an adapted version of the Word chains methodology for the reading test, and a dictation task for the writing test. Difficulty in reading or writing while under four magnitudes of vibration, adopting a posture leaning forward on the table or back against the chair, or conducting in English or Hindi was determined using NASA-TLX, a measure of subjective workload. There was a significant effect of posture on reading, and vibration on both reading and writing, but no significant effect for language. Task difficulty while undergoing whole body vibration was also matched to the theoretical framework of Hockey's compensatory control model (1997).