The effect of 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional perspective view displays on situation awareness during command and control

The primary aim of the study was to evaluate the potential of information technologies, specifically 2-dimensional (2D) and 3-dimensional (3D) perspective view displays, on situation awareness (SA) in a command and control environment. Furthermore, the influence of experience on SA while using the displays was investigated. SA of 10 air mission controllers (AMCs) was evaluated while using both displays during a simulated interception scenario. The protocol required each AMC to command two fighter jets in order to complete a successful intercept. The SA requirements for the scenario were extracted using a goal directed task analysis whereby the SA queries were derived. Significant differences (p <; 0.05) were found between the 2D and 3D displays for Level 1 SA while no significant differences were found for Level 2 and Level 3. The experienced AMCs demonstrated higher levels of SA at all 3 levels irrespective of display type but the differences were not significant. It is therefore deemed that experience does not play a major role in gaining SA when using the 3D display. This was expected because neither group had any prior experience with the 3D display. Level 1 SA was significantly higher for both the experienced and less experienced groups when using the 2D display. Level 1 was also significantly higher than Level 3 for both the experienced and less experienced groups when using the 3D display. The implication of these results are that although the AMCs were able to comprehend the mission, they were unable to perceive and project accurately what was going to happen next in the scenario when using the 3D display. Therefore the 3D display did not contribute towards improved SA or provide an advantage to command and control performance above that of the 2D display.