A User Interface for a Battlefield Distributed Information System

Abstract

This effort was conducted to redesign and improve the user interface for the Distributed Fact Base (DFB) component of the Army's Smart Weapon System / Information Distribution System (SWS/IDS), which is being initially developed to support battlefield fire control for fighting echelons up to the brigade level. The SWS/IDS consists of multiple clusters of powerful workstations that are networked together over low-speed radio links. The IDS manages the efficient updating and interrogating of nodes of the DFB so as to maximize system performance within communication channel capacity limits, thereby minimizing the amount of information exchange among battlefield units. The user interfaces address the distributed character of both the information and the decision processes as well as the essential complexity of the knowledge domain. Interface design is being accomplished using a general design methodology for distributed intelligent systems that entails systematic consideration of system and user objectives, cognitive capabilities and limitations of the user, and available technology options. An object-oriented approach was used for developing an enhanced interface for map, chart, and list applications using newly devised interface design tools known as Object-Action Specification Tables (OASTs) and an Object-Action Specification Language (OASL). The OASTs are tables that indicate which actions can be performed on which display and control objects and which control objects can perform which actions on other objects. Wherever an object-action combination is feasible, an entry in OASL indicates how the action is accomplished (e.g., by selection of pull-right menu item; mouse-button click with mouse cursor on screen icon; etc.).