Abstract
Soldiers can quickly lose situation awareness and orientation in combat, particularly in situations where there is degraded visual acuity, high noise, and/or need for audio silence. Multisensory tactile displays have enabled Soldiers to communicate during strenuous movements and to navigate at night, while hands-free and eyes-free. The full potential of these multisensory systems to reduce Soldier cognitive load and enhance performance has yet to be determined. Improved technology in tactile cueing enables more precise recognition of diverse alerts and communications. Efforts are also underway to integrate the tactile systems to visual and gesture-based systems. These new integrated systems could augment battlefield visualization techniques to allow individuals to quickly visualize and respond to battlefield dynamics. Given these technology developments, there is immediate need for research and guidelines to address issues arising from these multisensory displays. Panel discussants will introduce issues and insights arising from extensive research in basic and applied streams of research. While the performance context is that of Soldier navigation, communication, and performance, discussions will generalize to many fields.
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