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NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.
This report has been reviewed by a group other than the authors according to procedures approved by a Report Review Committee consisting of members of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.
The work of the Panel on Human Factors in the Design of Tactical Display Systems for the Individual Soldier is supported by Department of the Army Contract No. DAAD05-92-C-0087 issued by the U.S. Army Research Laboratory. The views, opinions, and findings contained in this report are those of the authors(s) and should not be construed as an official Department of the Army position, policy, or decision, unless so designated by other official documentation.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
National Research Council (U.S.). Panel on Human Factors in the Design of Tactical Display Systems for the Individual Soldier.
Tactical display for Soldiers : human factors considerations / Panel on Human Factors in the Design of Tactical Display Systems for the Individual Soldier, Committee on Human Factors, Commission on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, National Research Council.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-309-05638-1
1. Helmet-mounted displays. 2. United States Army. Infantry—Equipment. 3. Human engineering. I. Title.
UG489.N38 1997
623.4'6—dc21 96-39712
CIP
Additional copies of this report are available from National Academy Press, 2101 Constitution Avenue NW, Box 285, Washington, DC 20055. 800-624-6242 or 202-334-3313 in the Washington metropolitan area. http://www.nap.edu.
Copyright 1997 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America
PANEL ON HUMAN FACTORS IN THE DESIGN OF TACTICAL DISPLAY SYSTEMS FOR THE INDIVIDUAL SOLDIER
WILLIAM O. BLACKWOOD (Chair),
Hay Management Consultants, Inc., Arlington, Virginia
TIMOTHY R. ANDERSON,
Armstrong Laboratory, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio
C. THOMAS BENNETT,
Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley
JOHN R. CORSON, Consultant,
Williamsburg, Virginia
MICA R. ENDSLEY,
Department of Industrial Engineering, Texas Tech University, Lubbock
PETER A. HANCOCK,
Human Factors Research Laboratory, University of Minnesota
JULIAN HOCHBERG (emeritus),
Department of Psychology, Columbia University
JAMES E. HOFFMAN,
Department of Psychology, University of Delaware
RONALD V. KRUK,
CAE Electronics, Ltd., Saint Laurent, Quebec, Canada
ANNE S. MAVOR, Study Director
JERRY S. KIDD, Senior Staff Officer
CINDY S. PRINCE, Senior Project Assistant
COMMITTEE ON HUMAN FACTORS
WILLIAM B. ROUSE (Chair),
Enterprise Support Systems, Norcross, Georgia
TERRY CONNOLLY,
Department of Management and Policy, College of Business and Public Administration, University of Arizona, Tucson
PAUL S. GOODMAN,
Center for Management of Technology, Graduate School of Industrial Administration, Carnegie Mellon University
ROBERT L. HELMREICH,
National Aeronautics and Space Administration/University of Texas Aerospace Crew Research Project, Austin
WILLIAM C. HOWELL,
American Psychological Association Science Directorate, Washington, DC
ROBERTA L. KLATZKY,
Department of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University
TOM B. LEAMON,
Liberty Mutual Research Center, Hopkinton, MA
ANN MAJCHRZAK,
Human Factors Department, Institute of Safety and Systems Management, University of Southern California
DAVID C. NAGEL,
AT&T Laboratories, Basking Ridge, NJ
BENJAMIN SCHNEIDER,
Department of Psychology, University of Maryland
LAWRENCE W. STARK,
School of Optometry, University of California, Berkeley
EARL L. WIENER,
Department of Management Science, University of Miami
GREG L. ZACHARIAS,
Charles River Analytics, Cambridge, MA
ANNE MAVOR, Study Director
JERRY KIDD, Senior Adviser
SUSAN McCUTCHEN, Senior Project Assistant
Preface
The Panel on Human Factors in the Design of Tactical Displays for the Individual Soldier was established by the National Research Council at the request of the U.S. Army Natick Research, Development, and Engineering Center for the purpose of explicating the human factors issues and approaches associated with the development, testing, and implementation of helmet-mounted display technology in the Land Warrior System. More specifically, the panel was charged with examining the relationship among the tactical information needs of individual soldiers; the possible devices available now and in the near future for processing, transmitting, and displaying such information; and the human performance implications of the use of such devices.
This report presents our analysis, findings, and recommendations. The requirement for the proposed Land Warrior System stems from the need to help the soldier think and act quickly and effectively. Underlying the design concept is the assumption that the resulting system will improve the soldier's situation awareness of the battlefield and by so doing increase his performance efficiency and accuracy. In order to appropriately frame the critical human factors issues regarding design, training, and conditions of use, we begin by characterizing the sources of the requirement-the mission needs and the infantry soldier. Chapter 1 discusses military context, infantry doctrine, and employment scenarios for the proposed Land Warrior System; Chapter 2 presents the characteristics of the intended user. Designing usable equipment and providing effective training requires a detailed knowledge of the potential uses and the users as well as the possible interactions between design attributes and user capabilities and limitations. Because situation awareness is a central goal of the system, we begin our
technical analysis in Chapter 3 by considering how the land warrior helmet-mounted display may have both positive and negative impacts on the soldier's awareness of his surroundings and in turn on his ability to act. Effective situation awareness of the battlefield requires not only knowledge of friendly and enemy forces but also understanding of the dynamics of actions expected to occur in the near future. Since the soldier's situation awareness and performance are directly affected by how well he sees and interprets images of the world, it is essential to consider the proposed display and its implications for viewing and moving in the environment.
The eyes are the primary input channel for the soldier. When using the proposed system at night, the soldier will view the battlefield, detect and engage targets, and perform all his soldiering tasks through the display. Under both nighttime and daytime conditions, the soldier will read, respond to, create, and interpret images and messages that are transmitted over the system. Chapter 4 addresses the visual factors in designing and evaluating display devices in terms of the visually guided behaviors and tasks they are intended to support.
Like the eyes, the ears are essential to the soldier's performance and survivability. Auditory communications on the battlefield have always been challenging because of interference from background noise, the imprecision of oral communication, and fatigue. Our discussion of auditory displays in Chapter 5 focuses on supplementing or amplifying visual information, evaluating the pros and cons of various types of auditory signals, and examining the conditions and tasks for which auditory information is most effective.
Our final area of technical analysis, covered in Chapter 6, is the potential effects of the proposed Land Warrior helmet-mounted display on the soldier's cognitive workload. The Land Warrior System will add new tasks for the soldier to perform that will require him to acquire more information through reading and to process that information for retransmission, decision making, or both. It will be important for the Army to consider the implications of this additional workload on the performance of infantry soldiers who meet minimum recruiting standards.
As a result of our analysis of relevant research, the panel identified many areas in which additional knowledge is needed both for research and at the operational test and evaluation level. As a result, in Chapter 7 we identify a critical set of human factors test issues and propose a strategy for collecting information about these issues. This plan is followed in Chapter 8 by the conclusions and recommendations that the panel feels are most important. Some of these recommendations are in the form of design guidelines; others provide the basis for a proposed research agenda.
We begin our acknowledgments by extending thanks to Claire Gordon and Cynthia Blackwell, sponsor representatives from the U.S. Army Natick Research, Development, and Engineering Center (Natick RD&E) for their foresight in recognizing the importance of human factors for the Land Warrior System and for providing sponsorship and information support for the panel. Throughout the
course of the project, many individuals have made contributions to the panel's thinking by serving as presenters and sources of information. We are particularly grateful to Bernard Corona, Human Research and Engineering Directorate, Army Research Laboratory, for his continued interest in the project and for providing us with his valuable insights on the Land Warrior System and the state of human factors in related technologies. We also received cooperation and support from numerous members of the Army staff at the Infantry School, Fort Benning, the Training and Doctrine Command, and the Army Materiel Command. We would like to extend our special thanks to Captain Gregory Dyekman of the Infantry School for taking care of our logistic needs and for scheduling special demonstrations of the Soldier Integrated Protective Ensemble (SIPE) and night vision equipment. Others who contributed during our visit to Fort Benning were: Major Marc Collins, Project Manager-Soldier Systems; Captain William Dickey, Major Ronald Murray, Sergeant Richardson, and Staff Sergeant Weiser of the Infantry School; Lieutenant Colonel Ross Holden, Captain Ed Jennings, and Captain Scott O'Neil of the Night Vision Laboratory; and Patrick Snow, Jr., U.S. Natick RD&E Center.
Although this report is the collective product of the entire panel, in the course of preparing it, each member of the panel took an active role in drafting sections of chapters, leading discussions, and reviewing successive drafts. In particular, John Corson provided expert knowledge on the military context and on planning for research, development, testing, and evaluation; Mica Endsley contributed extensively in the area of situation awareness; Julian Hochberg, James Hoffman, and Ronald Kruk assumed major responsibility for the work on visual and psychomotor issues; Timothy Anderson provided material on auditory displays; Peter Hancock contributed material on cognitive workload; and Tom Bennett provided expertise in decision making.
Staff at the National Research Council made important contributions to our work in many ways. We would like to express our gratitude to Jerry Kidd, senior staff officer, for his hard work and technical support; to Alexandra Wigdor, director of the Division on Education, Labor, and Human Performance, for her valuable guidance; and to Cindy Prince, the panel's administrative assistant, who was indispensable in organizing meetings, compiling agenda materials, and working on the final manuscript. We are also indebted to Christine McShane, who edited and significantly improved the report.
William O. Blackwood, Chair
Anne S. Mavor, Study Director
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