Situational Awareness in Map Displays

Abstract

The effectiveness of ego-centered (moving map) and earth-centered (moving plane) displays was studied with subjects monitoring an animated aircraft situational awareness display. Other independent variables were subject experience (aircrew vs non-aircrew) and path complexity (straight vs turning). Periodically, the display blanked and probe questions were asked concerning the relationship of the aircraft to the simulated world. Questions included judgements about angles, distances, time and terrain. Simple paths elicited a 28 percent lower error rate than did complex paths. Moving map displays had a 32 percent lower error rate than moving plane displays. No other significant effects were observed. Subjective ratings by subjects after the experiment revealed unanimous preference for the moving plane display and that the moving plane condition was believed to be easier! This contradiction indicates subjective data is limited in determining display effectiveness.