Co-DOT Laboratory

The Co-DOT Laboratory brings together researchers and students interested studying human cognition from three perspectives, namely cognition distribution across individuals, information organization and technologies for optimizing human performance. Co-DOT’s mission is to pursue innovative research on these themes and transfer the resulting methods and knowledge to the field of cognitive ergonomics. To this end, the laboratory operates multifunctional infrastructure unique in Canada, comprising cutting-edge equipment (information wall, panoramic screens, 3D audio spatialization, mobile oculometric systems) and computer simulations of various dynamic complex situations (or microworlds) related to public security. The infrastructure also features a room for faithful reproduction of crisis management centre conditions. Carried out in collaboration with public agencies and industrial partners, the laboratory’s research projects, based on an approach combining engineering and cognitive science, are aimed at understanding cognitive factors that play a role in dynamic decision-making and the conditions that favour optimum team performance, as well as optimizing relations between human agents and the technology systems that assist them. This knowledge contributes to the design of systems to assist decision-making and methods for maximizing human performance.