Guest Editorial: Agent and System Transparency

The eight papers in this special issue focus on agent and system transparency in human-machine systems. The concept of transparency is investigated in a variety of contexts of human agent interaction—from a single robot to multiple heterogeneous agents and swarms. Two studies examine the effects of individual and cultural differences and, based on the compelling results, provide design recommendations related to transparent interfaces. One of the papers provides a thorough review on theoretical aspects of agent transparency and empirical findings on operator performance, situation awareness, trust and workload, among other outcomes. These measures are also among some of the most common metrics reported in studies in this special issue.