The effects of motion on in-vehicle touch screen system operation: A battle management system case study

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Abstract

The use of in-vehicle touch screen devices is currently common in both military and civilian vehicles; despite this, the effects of motion on touch screen device operation within vehicles remains largely unexplored. This article describes a study that examined, using driving simulation, the influences of motion on performance, workload and usability when using a touch screen in-vehicle battle management system. Acting in the role of battle management system operator, 20 participants undertook four simulated drives, two under high motion (representative of an unsealed road) and two under normal motion (representative of a sealed road), whilst performing various battle management tasks. In the high motion condition, lower accuracy and longer task completion times were found, along with greater levels of subjective and physiological workload and lower levels of perceived device usability, when compared to the normal motion condition. The findings indicate that, compared to normal motion, the high motion condition impaired key aspects of battle management system operation. In closing, the importance of considering motion and its effects during touch screen system design is discussed.

Highlights

► In-vehicle touch screen device performance was compared over two motion conditions. ► Workload and device usability were also compared across the two motion conditions. ► Performance was found to degrade under higher levels of motion. ► Workload was greatest, and usability lowest, in the high motion condition. ► The effects of motion should be considered during touch screen device design.

Introduction

The evaluation of in-vehicle devices, such as In-Vehicle Information Systems (IVIS e.g. route navigation systems, music players, mobile phones), is currently receiving significant attention in the traffic psychology literature. For example, studies investigating the effects of IVIS on driving performance (e.g. Mitsopoulos-Rubens et al., 2011, Santos et al., 2005, Young et al., 2011), the usability of different IVIS designs (e.g. Harvey, Stanton, Pickering, McDonald, & Zheng, 2011), and the development and validation of methodologies for assessing device usability and effects on driving performance and workload (e.g. Merat et al., 2011, Wang et al., 2010, Young et al., 2011) are all currently prevalent in the transportation psychology literature.

Given the heavy use of driving simulation to explore psychological aspects of driver behaviour in different contexts (e.g. IVIS use whilst driving), the level of fidelity used in driving simulations remains a key issue in simulation based research. Fidelity refers to how similar a simulated situation is relative to the operational situation (Hays & Singer, 1988). Various dimensions of fidelity exist (de Winter, Wieringa, Kuipers, Mulder, & Mulder, 2007) including various facets of physical and functional fidelity. One important component of driving simulation fidelity requiring further exploration concerns motion, that being: is motion required in driving simulation research, and if so, what is the level of motion fidelity required (i.e. extent to which motion in the simulated environment reflects the motion felt by drivers in the real world)? Despite this, there is little evidence presented in the literature regarding the extent to which high levels of motion fidelity are required in simulation-based driver behaviour research.

This issue is important to consider given that the use of touch screen based IVIS devices is becoming increasingly popular. Music, route navigation, and mobile phone systems incorporating touch screen interfaces are now common in civilian vehicles. Touch screen devices are also currently popular in the military, with devices such as in-vehicle Battle Management Systems (BMS) utilising touch screen interfaces becoming commonplace. Although touch screen IVIS devices have been subject to investigation regarding their usability and effects on driving performance (e.g. Harvey et al., 2011, Merat et al., 2011) one issue that has thus far been neglected, both in civilian and military driving, is the influence of motion on performance with such devices. Whilst important in the context of conventional driving, this is critical in the military given the tasks being undertaken (e.g. critical mission planning and battle management tasks) and the environments in which modern day land warfare operations typically occur (e.g. variable and unpredictable terrain). This article describes a study which aimed to ascertain, using advanced driving simulation, the effects of different levels of motion on BMS task performance, workload and device usability. Whilst the primary aim was to explore the effects of motion on BMS use, a secondary aim was to explore the extent to which different levels of motion influenced IVIS performance in a simulated environment, with a view to exploring the requirement for high motion fidelity in driving simulators.

Section snippets

Battle management systems, motion, and its effect on touch screen device performance

Within the military there is currently an increasing emphasis on the use of advanced technology to not only enhance capability in terms of weapons range, accuracy and lethality, but also to improve decision making during operations (Bolia, Vidulich, Nelson, & Cook, 2007). One element of this is the development of digitised laptop-based BMS, which are typically designed to replace more traditional approaches such as paper map and acetate-based mission planning and battle management processes (

Battle Management system study

The present study investigated the effects of differing levels of motion on performance, workload, and device usability, when performing a series of tasks on a touch screen BMS. Performance, workload, and BMS usability were assessed first under two motion conditions (normal and high) in the MUARC advanced driving simulator. Based on the limited evidence available in the literature, the study’s hypotheses were that: (a) performance across the battle management tasks would be degraded in the high

Design

The study used a repeated measures design. The independent variable was level of motion with two conditions: ‘normal’ motion (simulating motion on an average sealed road) and ‘high’ motion (simulating motion on a rough gravel road). For each motion condition there were two drives to enable examination of the effects of practice. The dependent variables were the time taken and errors made during performance on six BMS tasks (described below), reaction time (RT) to a visual task (also described

Task completion times

Task completion times are presented in Table 1 for each task type by condition.

To determine whether task completion times differed according to the level of motion (normal and high) and drive number (1 and 2) a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was conducted. The results showed that task completion times were significantly faster in the normal motion conditions compared to the high motion conditions; F(5, 11) = 6.50, p < .01. Performance was significantly faster on the second drives

Discussion

With the current proliferation of touch screen in-vehicle devices, the effects of motion on device operation and driving performance are becoming increasingly important lines of inquiry in the context of device and training design and road safety in general. Due to the nature of land warfare military operations and the current use of in-vehicle touch screen devices to support command and control activities, this is becoming an important research area in the military with significant

Acknowledgements

This research was conducted in partnership with staff from DSTO’s Land Operations Division. We particularly acknowledge the inputs of Vic Demczuk and Greg Judd for making their BMS task available to us, and in providing guidance on the use of the BMS task and in the interpretation of the data. We are also grateful to DSTO for the loan of a touch screen monitor that was used to provide participants with practice on the BMS task. Finally, we are appreciative of the on-going technical inputs and

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