This experiment seeks to examine the relationships among three advanced technology features (presentation of target cuing, reliability of target cuing, and level of image reality and the attention and trust given to that information). The participants were 16 military personnel who piloted an unmanned air vehicle and searched for targets camouflaged in terrain, which was presented at two levels of image realism. Cuing was available for some targets, and the reliability of this information was manipulated at two levels (100% and 75%). The results showed that the presence of cuing aided target detection for expected targets but drew attention away from the presence of unexpected targets. Cuing benefits and attentional tunneling were both reduced when cuing became less reliable. Increasing image realism was compelling but increased reliance on the cuing information when those data were reliable. Potential applications include a cost-benefit analysis of how trust modulates attention in the use of automated target recognition systems and the extent to which increased realism may influence this trust.

We conducted 2 experiments to investigate the clutter-scan trade-off between the cost of increasing clutter by overlaying complex information onto the forward field of view using a helmet-mounted display (HMD) and the cost of scanning when presenting this information on a handheld display. In the first experiment, this trade-off was examined in terms of the spatial accuracy of target cuing data in a relatively sparse display; in the second, the spatial accuracy of the cue was varied more radically in an information-rich display. Participants were asked to detect and identify targets hidden in the far domain while performing a monitoring task in the near domain using either an HMD or a handheld display. The results revealed that on a sparse display, the reduced scanning from the HMD presentation of cuing out-weighed the costs of clutter for cued targets, regardless of cue precision, but no benefit was found for uncued targets. When the HMD displayed task-irrelevant information, however, target detection was hindered by the extraneous clutter in the forward field of view relative to the handheld display condition, and this cost of clutter increased as the amount of data that needed to be inspected increased. Potential applications of this research include the development of design considerations for head-up displays for aviation and military applications.

Two experiments were performed to examine how frame of reference (world-referenced vs. screen-referenced) and target expectancy can modulate the effects of target cuing in directing attention for see-through helmet-mounted displays (HMDs). In the first experiment, the degree of world referencing was varied by the spatial accuracy of the cue; in the second, the degree of world referencing was varied more radically between a world-referenced HMD and a hand-held display. Participants were asked to detect, identify, and give azimuth information for targets hidden in terrain presented in the far domain (i.e., the world) while performing a monitoring task in the near domain (i.e., the display). The results of both experiments revealed a cost-benefit trade-off for cuing such that the presence of cuing aided the target detection task for expected targets but drew attention away from the presence of unexpected targets in the environment. Analyses support the observation that this effect can be mediated by the display: The world-referenced display reduced the cost of cognitive tunneling relative to the screen-referenced display in Experiment 1; this cost was further reduced in Experiment 2 when participants were using a hand-held display. Potential applications of this research include important design guidelines and specifications for automated target recognition systems as well as any terrain-and-targeting display system in which superimposed symbology is included, specifically in assessing the costs and benefits of attentional cuing and the means by which this information is displayed.

In a series of experiments color coding, intensity coding, and decluttering were compared in order to assess their potential benefits for accessing information from electronic map displays. Participants viewed electronic battlefield maps containing 5 classes of information discriminable by color or intensity, or, in the decluttering condition, displayed or removed entirely by a key press. Participants were asked questions requiring them to focus on objects within a class (objects presented at the same color or intensity) or to integrate data between objects in different classes (objects presented at different colors and intensities). The results suggested that the benefits of color and intensity coding appear to be in segregating the visual field rather than calling attention to the objects presented at a certain color or intensity. Interactivity proved to be a disadvantage; the time cost of information retrieval outweighed the time benefits of presenting less information on the display or even allowing map users to customize their displays. Potential applications of this research include a cost-benefit analysis for the use of 3 attentional filtering techniques and an attempt to quantitatively measure map complexity.

Performance measures for 3 frames of reference (full exocentric, full egocentric, and tethered) were contrasted across 4 different scientific visualization subtasks: search, travel, local judgment support, and global judgment support. Participants were instructed to locate and follow a designated path through 15 simple virtual environments and to answer simple questions about that environment. Each participant completed 5 trials in every frame of reference condition (exocentric, egocentric, and tethered). The results revealed that frames of reference that utilize egocentric or tethered viewpoints support better travel performance, especially when nearing the target. However, the exocentric frame of reference supported better performance in the search subtasks and in the local and global judgment subtasks. Actual or potential applications of this research include proper uses of virtual reality to support certain scientific visualization subtasks.