Rectilinear dials on a typical cockpit display were arranged in parallel, both horizontally and vertically, and also in a mixed, orthogonal arrangement. Although, intuitively, the parallel layouts appeared advantageous, the mixed layout yielded the best detection accuracy and the shortest detection times. Increasing the spacing between groups within a parallel, vertical array did not significantly improve performances. Uniform scales in any arrangement proved superior to non-uniform scales in readout accuracy. Thirty-six pilots and sixteen technical and scientific laboratory personnel participated in the study. Performances of pilots and non-pilots were very similar.
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