Research Note 85-36

In

VISUAL DISPLAYS FOR THE MODERN ARMY:

RECENT FINDINGS FROM THE

ARMY RESEARCH INSTITUTE

I

David M. Regal and Beverly G. Knapp

Battlefield Information Systems Technical Area

SYSTEMS RESEARCH LABORATORY

Franklin L. Moses, Acting Director

U. S. Army

j Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences

APRIL 1985

Approved for public release; distribution unlimited.

85 10 7 087
U. S. ARMY RESEARCH INSTITUTE

FOR THE BEHAVIORAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCES

A Field Operating Agency under the Jurisdiction of the

Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel

L. NEALE COSBY

EDGAR M. JOHNSON Colonel, IN

Technical Director Commander

"

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This report has been cleared for release to the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC). h has been given no

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Is the National Technical Information erige (NTIS). The views, opinions, end/or findings contained in this

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VISUAL DISPLAYS FOR THE MODERN ARMY: RECENT Final Report

FINDINGS FROM THE ARMY RESEARCH INSTITUTE May 19;O-Oct. 1984

6. PEPFORMING ORG. REPORT NUMBER

7. AUTHOR() I. CONTRACT OR GRANT NUMUER(a)

David M. Regal and Beverly G. Knapp - -

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Research described in this report took place from May 1965 to October 1984.

I KEY WORDS (ontlnue on r,*wrse side If neceecry and I.ntily by block number)

Visual Displays; Display Clutter,

Display Xesign' Display Coding)

Computer generated 4Aaps/o Man-Machine )nterface.

Map 9 mbology.

Highlight ing20. ANS"hACT (Cothius s reverse ef1r H nessay md Identify by block numnber)

-... "It is clear that tomorrow's Army will come to rely more and more heavily

on computer generated visual displays in a myriad of situations. ARI has

produced a substantial amount of research directed toward improving the human

factors design of information displays. This research has produced design

recommendations in such areas as highlighting, color coding, selective call up,

design and use of symbols, alphanumeric vs. graphic portrayals, and the

manipulation of pictorial information. k'>'Lt(i,-i * (continued)

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This report provides a list of specific recommendations for the design of

effective visual displays, and defines directions that future research might

take.

II

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SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OP THIS PAGE(WI heft Dat..Enterd)
VISUAL DISPLAYS FOR THE MODERN ARMY: RECENT FINDINGS FROM THE ARMY

RESEARCH INSTITUTE

BRIEF

Pequirement:

To summarize and integrate ARI research dealing with visual displays

and provide a listing of resulting design recommendations.

Findings:

ARI has supported (in-house or by contract), a substantial amount of

research directed toward improving the design of information displays from

a human factors perspective. This research has produced design

recommendation in areas such as highlighting, color coding, selective call

up, symbology design and use, alphanumeric vs. graphic portrayals, and the

manipulation of pictorial information.

Utilization of Findings:

This report should: (1) Help define directions that future research

might take. (2) Provide a list of specific recommendations for the design

of effective visual displays.

IN

II

64i

4I

iii

II..

La!
TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Introduction ............................................... 1

2. Recent ARI research on visual displays .................... 3

a. Background ............................................. 3

b. Alternative formatting of display information ..........

c. Coding ................................................. 7

d. Information reduction .................................. 10

e. Symbology .............................................. 13

f. Alphanumeric displays .................................. 16

g. Data base manipulation ................................. 16

3. Summary of ARI findings .................................... 18

4. Bibliography ............................................... 20

V
LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1 ............................................................ page 5

vi
VISUAL DISPLAYS FOR THE MODERN ARMY: RECENT FINDINGS FROM THE ARMY

RESEARCH INSTITUTE

by

David M. Regal and Beverly G. Knapp

The displays most widely used in today's Army (for planning, situation

assessment, and decision making) consist of topographic maps with clear

acetate overlays. Battlefield information is added by using a greasepencil

to draw on the overlaysThis methodology has not advanced substantially

over that used in the early part of the century, despite the fact that

battlefield management has become much more complex. At present, however,

attempts are being made to harness the power provided by computer and

computer display technologies to develop more sophisticated tactical

displays.

The commander of a tactical operation center (TOC) is faced with a

potentially serious information management problem. New sensor

technologies and improved communication capabilities increase the volume of

incoming information pertaining to both enemy and friendly forces. The

complexity of this information can also be increased as a result of the

greater mobility, fire power and sophistication of modern weapons systems.

TOC commanders must thus deal with a higher volume of information and more

complex information, and they must often make decisions more quickly than

in the past. Given these facts, it is clear that the use of automated data
Page 2

processing (ADP) to help display and manage battlefield information is of

great importance.

To this end, Army personnel are currently examining the rapid advances

in ADP technology to determine how computer generated tactical displays can

best meet the needs of modern, sophisticated tactical operations.

The capabilities of computer generated displays are already impressive

and are likely to improve rapidly in the future. Some advantages of these

displays are:

1. Presentation of large amounts of information, including digitized

maps.

2. Manipulation of display components, including symbol placement

and movement, selective call-up or deletion of groups of symbols, and

various techniques for highlighting important information.

3. Electronic transmision of displays between widely separated

command centers.

4. Dynamic capabilities that would allow unfolding of a battle plan

in time, so that it could be evaluated at every stage.

5. Calculations using the data base, such as determining distances,

elevations and fields-of-fire when working with digitized maps.

While the potential usefulness of computer driven displays is beyond

question, the effective implementation of this new technology is

challenging. Large amounts of information must be presented to the user in

a form that allows it to be rapidly assimilated and acted upon.
Page 3

The main areas of concern in the design of display systems are

hardware capabilities, software, and human factors considtrations.

Hardware capabilities involve factors such as display resolution and memory

capacity that place limits on the amount and quality of information

presented. While these hardware limitations are very significant, their

importance is rapidly decreasing as the current explosion in computer and

display technology produces one advance after another.

With advances in display hardware, the problems of information

transfer fall increasingly in the area of human factors and software

development. Thus, the question is raised as to how large amounts of

information can best be organized and presented to have maximum utility for

the user. ARI has recognized the critical nature of this issue and has

undertaken research directed toward resolving some of these problems. This

research, dealing with the soldier-computer interface, is aimed at

providing guidelines applicable to all stages of system development --

requirements, design, and operational use. An overview of this work is

presented in the following sections.

RECENT ARI RESEARCH ON VISUAL DISPLAYS

BACKGROUND

'Automated graphic displays can greatly assist the command staff in

managing the battlefield. The advantages of using these displays were

pointed out earlier. The problem now becomes one of how to most

effectively implement this new technology. ARI has made significant

contributions in this area.
Page 4

A number of research projects have been directed toward examining what

is known as the "clutter" problem. Clutter is defined as occurring when

the amount of information in a display is greater than a user can

efficiently process and use. (It does not imply that any of the

information is unimportant.) In an attempt to reduce this problem,

alternative formatting techniques have been investigated that include

various forms of selective data presentation and methods of information

highlighting. Work has also been done in the area of tactical symbology,

where standard Army symbols (FM 21-30 and FM 21-31) have been shown to be

suboptimal for visual displays. Other ARI research directed toward more

effective use of computer generated visual displays is also reviewed. An

overview of the general factors that are important in effective map design

can be found in a paper by Potash (1977).

ALTERNATIVE FORMATTING OF DISPLAY INFORMATION

A user looking at a tactical situation display must be able to extract

a variety of information regarding friendly forces, enemy forces, terrain,

and the various relationships between these factors. Unfortunately, our

perceptual and information processing capacity is limited, and a point can

be reached beyond which the addition of more information to a display

screen will no longer improve performance, but actually hinder it.

An example of a display with a large quantity of information is shown

in Fig. 1. A display of this type is referred to as a high density or

cluttered display. Note that although this map shows only the most basic

information (unit type, weaponry, and limited terrain features) it already

appears cluttered. It can become a chore to extract even simple

information (such as the number of armor, artillery, and infantry units)

°. -, ~ -. • . , . . . • . . . - ° . . .. .
Page 18

TEYPORAL FACTORS AFFECTING VISUAL DISPLAYS

A very through review of the literature covering the ways in which

temporal factors affect information transfer from visual displays has been

produced by Sekuler, Tynan and Kennedy (1980). While this work is

especially appropriate as an aid in designing dynamic displays, it is also

applicable to certain aspects of static displays, such as refresh rate.

SUMMARY OF ARI FINDINGS

1. Computer generated tactical displays have great potential for

significantly improving battlefield management.

2. Alternative formatting techniques can help alleviate the information

overload (clutter) problem.

a) Coding and selective presentation appear to be the most promising

alternative formatting techniques.

b) Double coding dramatically increases user performance in

information extraction. This redundant coding should augment symbolic

information rather than add new symbols.

c) Color coding is a powerful technique for segregating information.

It must be used with care, however, to assure that it does not

interfere with the extraction of information coded using other

techniques.

d) Neighboring map segments can be integrated by either smoothly

panning the map or by the presentation of discrete segments. The

simpler procedure of discrete segment presentation (with 25% overlap)

was found to be superior.

e) Selective call up is a promising technique for reducing the problem

involved in using a cluttered display. In-depth research into the

,- . - .- ..- -. - .- , ., ,- , .- . , -,- . . . . . ,. .. . . .. -*,7
Page 17

The computer can also provide information that incorporates a temporal

component. By specifying the velocity at which different sections of a

route can be traversed, the time needed to reach a destination is easily

provided. Dynamic battlefield planning is also possible. By indicating

the paths and speed of movement of different units a commander can look at

unit deployment at any period during the projected engagement. Work by

Rebane, Walsh, Moses, Schechterman and Levi (1980) involved the development

of preliminary procedures that allow non-computer personnel to create

battlefield situations on computer displays and to assess changing events

using dynamic replays and computer calculations of possible outcomes. This

work emphasizes the fact that battlefield planners/analysts, without a

computing background, can work effectively with computer graphics to

structure and analyze battlefield situations.

In other research Moses and Vande Hei (1978) had intelligence analysts

make assessments of a classical division attack scenario depicted on a

display screen. In one condition the analysts could have the computer

specify distances, times, velocities, and directions. In the control

condition these aids were not available. Results indicated that responses

in the computer aided condition were substantially more accurate than

responses in the unaided condition.

It should be stressed that the above examples are only a sampling of

the ways computers can aid in battlefield planning. However, they should

be adequate, together with previously presented material, to provide a

feeling for how a computer system could be developed which, when used by a

trained tactician, would be capable of providing truly superior battlefield

management.

* -,I L L- 
Page 16

It is clear that symbol design and selection is an important factor in

optimizing the presentation of tactical information. Research on the

meaning and structure of symbols is presently being carried out by ARI

personnel.

ALPHANUMERIC DISPLAYS

When designing computer generated visual displays there is sometimes a

tendency to ignore or minimize the role of alphanumerics. ARI research

(Vicino and Ringel, 1966; Nawrocki, 1972,1973; Moore, Nawrocki and

Simutis, 1979) has shown that in some instances alphanumerics are the most

efficient form of information presentation. This is especially true for

summary data (such as unit strength or supply status) where an alphanumeric

listing can replace the need to tediously extract the information from a

cluttered graphic display. This research indicates that the most effective

displays will often include both graphic and alphanumeric elements.

DATA BASE MANIPULATION

The ability to access and manipulate the data base used to generate

tactical map displays provides the analyst with a number of very powerful

tools. For example, by simply specifying two end points the computer can

quickly provide the distance between them and the azimuth from one to the

other. If a curvilinear route is specified, then its length can be

calculated easily and quickly. The cumulative elevation gain for a route

can be determined -- a potentially important factor when planning troop

movements to be made on foot. In a similar fashion, the steepest grades

along a route can be derived from contour information and used in planning

the feasibility of vehicular movement.

.,.J %V* Y -A~c
Page 15

Other important features of an optimal symbol set are described by

Ciccone, Samet and Channon (1979). One of these features is

identifiability. Given a high density display, it is important that a user

be able to easily pick out and identify various symbols. It is also

important that symbols be sufficiently distinct from one another to

minimize the likelihood of confusion even under adverse viewing conditions.

Still another consideration is symbol complexity. If one is concerned with

the amount of clutter on a display screen, it is important that the symbols

used do not add to the problem. The more complex the symbols the more they

will tend to clutter the screen. A good design thus calls for symbols to

be as simple as possible while still conveying the desired information.

Still another feature that must be taken into account in the design

and selection of symbols is the medium in which they are to be presented.

The criteria for effective video display terminal (VDT) displays are not

identical to those for drawing with grease pencil on an overlay, nor are

they the same as those used for printed material. For example, while a

human can draw a circle faster than a square, the computer has a preference

for the square, which it can generate faster and store more easily. The

graphics capabilities of a display should also influence symbol selection.

A system's resolution will determine the smallest size a symbol can be

drawn and still be easily recognized. By choosing complex symbols, a

designer may be adding to the clutter problem as a result of having to use

larger symbols.

To insure the optimal choice of symbols for VDT displays it is

important to understand and take into account the system's hardware and

software characteristics.
Page 14

unavailable from a display using conventional symbology. It was also found

that users typically responded to this situation by creating their own

idiosyncratic symbols to supplement the standard set. This finding clearly

indicates the need for the Army to develop a more complete set of symbols.

An alternative is to have ADP systems that allow users to define additional

symbols that are necessary for mission accomplishment. A file containing

the definitions of these novel symbols should be a requirement.

Another important requirement of a symbol set is that the graphic

representation of the individual symbols be readily associated with the

symbol's actual meaning. This association can take a number of forms such

as pictorial similarity, or numerousity to represent unit size. Symbols

that have a natural association with the concept they are ment to represent

will be learned and interpreted more readily and will make it easier for a

user to extract information from a cluttered display. Bersh, Moses and

Maisano (1978) and Moses, Maisano and Bersh (1979) determined the strength

of association of simple codes and geometric shapes with military concepts.

The strengths of these associations were found to be low, while certain

non-standard symbols were found to have a high natural association with the

military concepts that were studied. In a related project, Hemingway,

Kubala and Chastain (1979) compared pictorial symbols to traditional

military symbols. Naive subjects were asked to rank symbols in terms of

how meaningfully they felt each symbol represented a particular military

concept. The subjects generally preferred pictorial symbols over their

traditional military alternatives.
Page 13

SYMBOLOGY

Another factor that bears on the usefulness of tactical displays is

the nature of the symbols used. The symbols must not only contain all

necessary information, but must also represent it in a fashion that will

allow it to be efficiently extracted by the user. There seems to be

general agreement among researchers that the symbols currently used by the

Army (FM 21-30 and FM 21-31) do not represent the best choice.

Sidorsky, Gellman and Moses (1979) surveyed a number of Army agencies

with an active interest in symbology. Their work provides a broad overview

of the Army's symbology requirements. In a related work, Landee, Samet and

Foley (1979) developed a task-based approach for specifying and analyzing

map information requirements. These requirements included both tactical

symbology and other information dependent on symbols (e.g., slope derived

from contour lines). The work resulted in the production of map

development guidelines.

ne requirement of a symbol set is to represent all essential concepts

of the task domain. Ciccone, Samet and Channon (1979) developed a task

based methodology that allowed them to determine the graphically related

tactical information requirements of experienced military tacticians. They

discovered that current military symbology did not adequately portray all

the required information. In another project, Landee, Samet and Gellman

(1980) used a similar methodology to generate a large number of tactical

questions relevant to the battlefield information requirements of a TOC

command staff. Their results indicate that conventional symbology fails in

many respects to meet the basic information needs of users. For example,

43% of the i-iformation requirements identified were said by users to be
Z. '"Page 12

A project currently in progress will provide additional research on

the effective use of information reduction techniques. One feature of this project is aimed at helping with the task of integrating different map

segments. In one corner of the screen is a small scale outline of the

entire map area of interest. Within this outline is a second outline

indicating the size and location of the area currently being presented on

the screen. It is hoped that this mode of presentation will aid the user

PI in the task of integrating information across different presentations.

The second type of information reduction to be considered involves a

fixed situation map to which features are either added or deleated. This

process, in which users control the information displayed, is known as

selective call up. For example, if one wanted to assess the positioning of

friendly artillery units on a display that was heavily cluttered the task

would be made easier by temporarily removing infantry and artillery units

from the screen. It is possible to give the user control over the

presentation of a large number of features (e.g., unit size, unit type,

weaponry, readiness, mobility, terrain features, etc.). The effective Iimplementation of user control of displayed information is currently under

study at ARI. In a series of experiments, Regal and Knapp (1984) showed

that when users were able to remove extranious information from a display

their problem solving speed and accuracy improved significantly. These

improvements in performance held across different task types and different

levels of clutter.

I

So

.... ..... , . . .
Page 11

By viewing only a section of the display the user looses the ability

to integrate information across the entire display. This problem can be

partially overcome by allowing the user to sequentially view adjoining

sections of the display. The impression here is one of a large display

being moved behind the display screen. Granda (1978), using an

alphanumeric presentation, had subjects search for target stimuli. Only a

small part of the display was visible at a time and the search was

conducted by allowing the subjects to control which part of the

presentation they viewed. It was found that the display could be

effectively searched using this panning technique.

*i In other research, Moses and Maisano (1979) compared two methods of

panning a tactical map display.The intuitively more pleasing method

involves an impression of the map moving smoothly and continuously behind

the screen. A faster and more easiy implemented method provides discrete

shifts between neighboring (and partially overlapping) sections of the map.

Moses and Maisano (1979) compared these two techniques in an experimentthat required Army officers to determine optimum routes that involved

multiple map segments. They found that performance using discrete segments

(having 25 % overlap) was better than continuous movement.

II It is important to keep in mind that sequential presentation of map

segments requires a substantial amount of the user's effort be directed

toward integrating across frames. The technique should be used with some

care dnd its benefits will clearly be a function of the specific task at

hand.

aI
Page 10

extraction (to differentiate unit strength) no significant advantage was

found.

In another experiment, Hemingway and Kubala (1979) used color to

differentiate types of military units (Infantry, Armor, Artillery and

Mechanized Infantry). They conclude that color coding increased the speed

of inf6rmation extraction, while not influencing the accuracy of

performance.

Farrell and Potash (1979) and Potash, Farrell and Jeffrey (1979) used

color as a double-cue supplement to contour lines on military maps. Again,

the speed of information extraction (in contour related tasks) was

increased without any loss of accuracy.

INFORMATION REDUCTION

"Information reduction" is an alternative formatting technique that

reduces clutter by dividing up the available information and displaying

just part of it at a time. By allowing the user to display only

information that is relevant, it is possible to effectively process a much

larger data base than would be the case if all information were presented

at once.

One form of information reduction involves magnification. By

presenting only a section of the total display, expanded to fill the

screen, the information density and thus clutter can be reduced and

specific sections of the display can be examined in detail.
Page 9

interfering with other types of information of interest to the user. For

example, one could use different colors to effectively differentiate

between unit types (Infantry, Armor, Artillery). However, the user might

also be interested in identifying the number of units at full strength.

This identification requires attending to symbols that cut across unit type

and means that the user must ignore the colors that designate unit type.

If the color highlighting is very salient it can be difficult to ignore and

can actually interfere with the ease of extracting information indicating

unit strength.

Thus, when implementing a highlighting technique one must be concerned

with more than just how well it facilitates information extraction in the

category of interest. The extent that it might interfere with the user's

ability to effectively deal with other categories of information must also

be taken into account.

In one research project, Sidorsky (1977) evaluated the use of color as

an aid in extracting information from a tactical situation map. Color was

used to highlight either shape or alphanumeric codes on a number of tasks.

Performance was compared to that obtained without the use of color. The

tasks were of a type that required attention to more than a single

dimension. For example, in one problem subjects had to determine both type

and strength of units depicted on a terrain map. Problems like this are

most efficiently solved by extracting information in a specific order -- in

this example, by first identifying unit type and then unit strength. When

color coding was used to indicate the first level of information extraction

(unit type) the speed and accuracy of information extraction improved

dramatically over that obtained when only shape or alphanumeric coding was

used. However, when color was used at higher levels of information
Page 8

orientation, underlining, numerousity, and tagging. When these codes are

* used singly or in combination, a great potential exists for aiding users in

processing large amounts of graphic information.

In one research project,Vicino, Andrews and Ringel (1965) investigated

the use of various coding techniques to indicate when changes in a display

had occurred. Their interest was in finding a code which was very

efficient in alerting the command staff to updates of specific information.

On each trial subjects were shown two successive slides of a map containing

symbols representing military units. The second slide differed from the

first in that units were either added, deleated, or moved. It was the

subject's task to identify these changes. Performance, using three

different techniques for highlighting the changes (hard-copy, single-cue,

and double-cue coding) was compared to unaided performance. Single-cue

coding involved adding features to the unit symbol to indicate changes.

For example, an "N" was put next to a symbol that was added. This was

found to improve performance substantially over the unaided situation. The

double-cue coding situation involved keeping the added features of

single-cueing and in addition, highlighting the relevant unit symbols by

increasing the width of lines used to draw them. Double-cue coding

produced the best results, with performance being considerably better than

even the single-cue coding technique. Having a hard-copy of the first

slide to compare to the second slide as an aid in identifying the changes

was not found to be very useful within the time limit given.

Another coding technique explored by ARI researchers is that of color Icoding. The use of differential color to highlight specific categories of

information on tactical maps has been shown to be very effective. In fact,

it is so effective that it must be used with care so as to avoid
Page 7

Research evidence has pointed to some disadvantages of using

techniques 1 and 2 (multiple displays and reduced detail displays).

Potash and Jeffrey (1978) have argued that multiple displays are not worth

the added hardware expense and that there are problems introduced by the

need to integrate information across more than one display. Granda (1976)

has found that the reduced detail technique may be viable for some tactical

tasks, but unfortunately user surveys have indicated the need for more

displayed information rather than less, especially in the face of

increasingly complex battlefield environments (Ciccone, Samet and Channon,

1979; Landee, Samet and Gellman, 1980). ARI research has focussed on the

two remaining techniques (coding and selective presentation) as the most

effective methods of alternative formatting for high density displays.

Details of recent research findings regarding these techniques is presented

next.

COPING

Coding techniques enhance assimilation of displayed information by

making certain portions of that information "stand out" from the rest.

This is accomplished by differentiating particular symbols, elements, or

features within the display by either highlighting or emphasizing them by

*adding an auxiliary code. All information remains on the display, but

critical dimensions are emphasized or redundantly portrayed. Hemingway,

Kubala and Chastain (1979) and Parrish, Gates, Munger, Towstopiat, Grimma

and Smith (1983) have reviewed different coding techniques and made

recommendations for their use. A sampling of these techniques include

various uses of: color, brightness, character size, blinking, shape,

'- '* . -'- *-".i k '" "." " - - . . .
Page 6

from such a display. Research has shown that searching for information in

a high density display can be time consuming and fatiguing (Bloomfield,

Beckwith, Emerick, Marmurek, Tei and Traub, 1978). Thus, a situation can

exist in which important information is available but not used -- a

situation in which the probability of successful battlefield planning is

reduced. The purpose of alternative formatting techniques is to increase

the amount of information that a commander or command staff can effectively

deal with (see Gellman, 1979; Knapp, Moses and Gellman, 1982).

Alternative formatting techniques are intended to produce displays

with improved perceptual characteristics without changing the basic symbols

or hardware being used. These improvements are achieved through software

manipulation and involve variations in dimensions such as color, luminance,

magnification, selective deletion and temporal variations.

ARI research has addressed four alternative formatting techniques

intended to facilitate a user's ability to extract information from a

graphic display. These are:

1. Multiple Displays. The use of more than one display to present

*information.

2. Reduced Detail Displays. Removal of fine grain information from

the display.

3. Coding. Highlighting certain information to maximize symbol

differentiation.

*4. Selective Presentation. Presentation of various sub-sets of the

total information available.

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usefullness of this technique are planned for the near future.

4. Improvements are needed in the tactical symbology presently used by the

Army.

a) A symbol set that more completely represents all required functions

is needed.

b) Individual symbols should be chosen so that their graphic

representation is more readily associated with their actual meaning.

c) For use in high density displays, symbols should be kept as simple

as possible, but still be different enough from one another so as not

to be confused.

d) The design of symbols to be used with VDT's should take into

account the hardware and software characteristics of the system.

5. There are instances in which alphanumeric representation of information

is preferable to graphics. The most effective displays will often include

a combination of graphic and alphanumeric elements.

6. The ability to manipulate the data base used to produce tactical

displays provides the user with numerous aids to battlefield management.

These aids include easy calculations of factors such as, route length,

azimuths, velocity of movement and dynamic planning.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Page 21

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