معرفی
John Gaspar serves as Director of Human Factors Research at the University of Iowa's Driving Safety Research Institute within the College of Engineering. His work bridges the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering and the National Advanced Driving Simulator (NADS), where he leads critical research on driver-vehicle interactions. With a PhD in Psychology from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, his academic foundation supports interdisciplinary work spanning engineering, cognitive science, and transportation safety.
Gaspar's research focuses on human factors in vehicle automation systems, drowsy driving countermeasures, and driver monitoring technologies. He employs multimodal methodologies including high-fidelity simulation, naturalistic driving studies, and physiological monitoring to examine driver behavior in automated vehicles. His work specifically investigates mental model development around ADAS technologies, transition of control in conditional automation, and fatigue management strategies during long-haul driving.
Analysis of his recent publications reveals dominant research themes in drowsy driving countermeasures (25% of recent work), ADAS mental model development (20%), driver monitoring system validation (15%), and rural automated vehicle deployment challenges (10%). His methodological approach consistently integrates simulation with real-world validation, particularly through NHTSA-funded projects examining human-automation interaction.
As principal investigator on three active NHTSA projects, Gaspar leads research on automated vehicle HMIs, drowsiness countermeasures, and driver state detection systems. His work directly informs transportation safety policy through collaborations with the Transportation Research Board, Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, and Society of Automotive Engineers. The Driving Safety Research Institute under his direction operates multiple high-fidelity simulators including NADS-1 and NADS-2, supporting both fundamental human factors research and applied vehicle safety development.
Gaspar's laboratory infrastructure includes the National Advanced Driving Simulator complex with motion-base platforms, instrumented on-road vehicles, and rural driving scenario capabilities. His team specializes in multimodal data collection combining eye-tracking, physiological monitoring, vehicle dynamics, and behavioral coding to create comprehensive driver state models. Current projects emphasize real-world applicability of laboratory findings, particularly for vulnerable populations including older drivers and those operating in rural environments.
