Abstract
Measurements were made of the ability of 20 subjects to acquire 3, 6 or 9 stationary visual targets and then replace them after they had been removed. The targets were viewed with various sized fields-of-view (FOVs) using a Visually Coupled Airborne Systems Simulator (VCASS), which was mounted on the head and which used head position information to provide space-stabilized computer-generated images. Targets were presented with a blank background or a terrain background. Subjects were instructed to use as much time as they required or to be as quick as possible searching for the targets. Mean times to search for the targets were faster with the larger FOVs and faster with fewer targets. Replacement accuracy was not sensitive to the FOV but decreased with increasing number of targets. Search times were slower, but replacement accuracy was greater with a terrain background than with a blank background. In the fast search conditions, the number of guessed target replacements decreased with decreasing numbers of targets and increasing FOV. It is concluded that target replacement performance was sensitive to manipulation of the independent variables and as such is a potentially useful metric of spatial awareness.
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