Impacts of wearable augmented reality displays on operator performance, situation awareness, communication, and mobility in a safety-critical system

Abstract

Displays present critical information to operators in complex safety-critical systems such as nuclear power, medicine, emergency response, oil and gas processing, space exploration, firefighting, marine transportation, and air traffic control. Wearable augmented reality displays (WARDs) present operators with new capabilities for mobile, situated information access in systems that require operator task performance, situation awareness (SA), communication, and mobility for safe operation. Recent research has begun to clarify the impacts of WARDs on operator performance and SA, but very little attention has been focused on WARD impacts on operator communication and mobility, and on how operator communication and mobility impact operator performance and SA. This work explores these impacts on 211 ship navigators using either WARDs or conventional displays in a real-time, physical simulator. Operators using WARDs showed improved operator performance and SA, improved operator communication, particularly in stressful situations, and enhanced operator mobility. Improved operator communication was linked with positive impacts on operator performance and SA, while enhanced operator mobility was associated with reduced operator performance. These results improve understanding of how novel display capabilities impact operator performance, SA, communication, and mobility, as well as how operator communication and mobility may influence operator performance and SA, and contribute novel research on how operator communication and mobility may influence operator performance and SA in safety-critical systems.