Examining situational awareness, trust in automation, and workload in engine resources management: an evaluation of head-worn display technology

Abstract

Work in the engine department is currently demanding more monitoring task. However, the current alarm systems that support operators during troubleshooting are deficient. In many cases, operators reach the engine control room (ECR) only to find a false alarm. This problem is likely to aggravate in the future as operators work in smaller numbers or even alone; therefore, task prioritization should be considered in a given context. Therefore, this study examines the application of head-worn displays in engine resources management to improve situational awareness (SA), trust in automation, and workload. A human-subject experiment was conducted using an engine plant simulator. The participants simultaneously performed maintenance and monitoring tasks in two scenarios: work conditions assisted with and without information on the head-worn display used as a cognition aid. Subjective measurement involved filling in questionnaires after each trial, whereas objective measurement used the simulator-recorded data. The results show that the availability of engine parameters and alarm indicators on a head-worn display is less significant in improving situational awareness. However, it can still help develop trust in automation and lower the workload. In addition, head-worn displays improve participants’ prioritization in a multi-tasking environment. The results indicate that examining these findings in actual work environments can help realize the future application of head-worn displays in ship operations.