A Preliminary Study to Investigate the Sensemaking Process of UAV Reports by Operators after Periods of Disconnect for Threat Assessment

Abstract

Teleoperated robots have been used to minimize human presence and interaction in dangerous or difficult areas or to enhance human capabilities. One of the challenges that still needs investigation is human-robot communication regarding making decisions based on extracted information. As such, the purpose of this research is to address issues of decision making after communication disconnections through interface design by focusing on improving sensemaking. Analyzing the effects of interface design in a UAV threat assessment scenario is ideal to examine not only the sensemaking process but also how that process defines decision making in an environment where efficient decision making and low clutter displays are needed. The data from this study will serve determine elements of an optimal interface for information assimilation. Twenty participants were recruited to complete a series of sixteen threat assessment decisions with different interface designs, varying amounts of information and layouts of information. It was observed that level of detailed information had a significant effect on the subjective trust and decision selected and display layout had a significant effect on the time taken to complete a decision.