Designing for Exploration and Exploitation in Experimental Search and Rescue Scenarios

Abstract

Exploration and exploitation are commonly cited in search and rescue scenarios to explain the process by which individuals work in a team and gather information about their environment (exploration) and identify potential solutions and adaptations (exploitation) to pursue successful outcomes. In this paper, we discuss exploration and exploitation as critical design features and highlight the importance of balancing them when designing team-based search and rescue missions. To test the proposed design decisions, we developed a usability study that includes two missions wherein teams consisting of three participants are tasked to rescue victims within a Minecraft-based 3D testbed.

Similarity and Consistency in Algorithm-Guided Exploration

“…Algorithm-based decision support systems are becoming increasingly influential in the decisionmaking practices of individuals and organizations, including product searches, portfolio choices, and human resource procurement (e.g., Adomavicius and Tuzhilin, 2005b;Panniello et al, 2016;Tauchert and Mesbah, 2019;Zhou et al, 2021;Wang et al, 2022;Uotila et al, 2009). They also affect search and rescue missions and production settings, as well as geological and space exploration, in which teams of humans and algorithm-driven robots jointly perform search tasks (e.g., Orth et al, 2021;Schoonderwoerd et al, 2022;Pouya and Madni, 2021). Such decision problems are typically characterized by sequential choices and learning over time.…”