Representing and Visualizing a Dynamically Changing Tactical Situation

In a research project investigating information requirements for increasing SA in the attack helicopter domain, we examined issues concerned with the presentation of dynamically changing information about a tactical situation. We explored features including an underlying digital map, supplementary unit information, and dynamically updated information about enemy and friendly unit movements. We found that although continuous updating would most accurately represent the current tactical situation, periodic updates were more successful in making subjects aware of the changing enemy and friendly dispositions, thereby supporting higher levels of SA. We found that some features rated as highly useful were not actually invoked during the simulation, suggesting that subjective evaluations of utility of display features may be a misleading indicator of their actual usage.