Drive the Bus

ACT-R has been used to study human-computer interaction, however, up until the creation of JSegMan, ACT-R was unable to interact with unmodified interfaces not written in Common Lisp. Working with unmodified interfaces reveals deficiencies with ACT-R’s motor module. Currently, ACT-R is capable of queuing rapid keystrokes, however, many programs require multiple keys to be pressed at once, which ACT-R cannot do. This prevents ACT-R from interacting with text editors such as Vim and Emacs. Similarly, ACT-R cannot model people playing many modern video games that require pressing multiple WASD or arrow keys at once while moving the mouse. This paper creates a model that demonstrates this deficiency while playing Desert Bus. Furthermore, new systems to allow parallel motor actions to be learned and requested are proposed and the implications of running a model over many hours is explored.