Big is better? Empirical results of an assessment of command teams with large screen displays

This paper details the results of a trial conducted to assess the cognitive benefits of large screen displays (LSD). A simulated command and control exercise was conducted with a military command team responsible for tasking the air component of a modern battle. Two scenarios were used, adapted to provide a realistic environment. Performance with a prototype LSD was compared to performance with conventional displays. It was hypothesised that the LSD would reduce workload, improve situation awareness (SA), facilitate shared mental models and improve decision-making. Workload and SA were not found to differ significantly between conditions using the NASA TLX and SART questionnaires. A communications analysis also revealed little difference between the two conditions.