An Approach for Measuring The Effects of Augmented Reality on Human Performance in Maritime Navigation

Abstract

A lack of Situation Awareness in maritime navigation has been shown to be a reoccurring contributory cause of vessel collisions at sea. Vessel navigation and operational tasks have progressively moved towards screen-based interactions and monitoring, leading to increased navigator Head-Down Time and decreased navigator performance. Augmented Reality enables new and different opportunities to display operational data, which may reduce Head-Down Time and better support navigator Situation Awareness. However, research and development of Augmented Reality solutions in maritime operations are still in the preliminary stages. This paper presents a multidisciplinary approach towards developing and testing Augmented Reality solutions for maritime applications. We describe a methodology for investigating the effects of Augmented Reality on human performance during maritime navigation scenarios and how this data feeds back in an iterative design and development process using a user-centred approach for maritime digitalization and new technology initiatives.