Three Dimensional Display Technology for Aerospace and Visualization

Abstract

The similarities and contrasts between scientific visualization, and the tasks imposed on the pilot and air traffic controller are highlighted. Relevant principles for 3 dimensional display design for both of these applications are stated, and an experiment is described which contrasts four graphical formats across a number of tasks involving the interpretation of a hypothetical set of scientific data. The tasks vary in the degree to which focused attention vs. integration is involved. The graphical formats were either 2 or 3D renderings and either did or did not contain contours to emphasize objectness. The results revealed that emergent features, created either by objectness or 3 dimensionality, facilitated integration performance. However, 3 dimensionality generally slowed performance on all tasks.

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