An Initial Investigation of Exogenous Orienting Visual Display Cues for Dismounted Human-Robot Communication

The drive to progress dismounted Soldier-robot teaming is toward more autonomous systems with effective bi-directional Soldier-robot dialogue, which in turn requires a strong understanding of interface design factors that impact Soldier-robot communication. This experiment tested effects of various exogenous orienting visual display cues on simulation-based reconnaissance and communication performance, perceived workload, and usability preference. A 2 x 2 design provided four exogenous orienting visual display designs, two for navigation route selection and two for building identification. Participants' tasks included signal detection and response to visual prompts within a tactical multimodal interface (MMI). Within the novice non-military sample, results reveal that all display designs elicited low perceived workload, were highly accepted in terms of usability preference, and did not have an effect on task performance regarding responses to robot assistance requests. Results suggest inclusion of other factors, such as individual differences (experience, ability, motivation) to enhance a predictive model of task performance.