Keeping Track of the Changing Tactical Picture

Abstract

Abstract : Graphical displays of the battle space are becoming ubiquitous within today's Army command and control infrastructure. For the unit of action soldier, knowing the position of objects of military interest within that soldier's area of operation is paramount in achieving and maintaining situational awareness. It is important to realize, however, that situational awareness is not a product. Rather, it is a process that involves understanding the spatial relationship and attributes of battlefield entities and how these change with time. The user of a situational awareness display must note the location of symbols and changes in symbol attributes (e.g., variations in speed, direction, relative position) that may require reevaluation of operational plans or threat potential. Previous research has shown that a person's ability to keep track of changes in entity attributes is limited, but in all of those experiments the values of attributes were represented alphanumerically. This paper, based on work by Walrath, Monty, Harper, and Coury (1995), discusses the ability of people to keep track of changes in graphical symbols. The effects of graphical representations on keeping track performance and implications for tactical display decision support are discussed.