A Singular Value Decomposition Approach to Information Presentation Format Optimization

Abstract

Glass cockpits pose a novel problem in Information Presentation Format (IPF) optimization since they invariably carry more formats than they can present any given time. In addition to optimizing individual formats and the static layout of sets of formats for information presentation, designers must now concern themselves with optimizing the overall set of formats from which a subset is drawn for presentation at any given time. Fortunately, quantitative knowledge representations and reasoning techniques, deriving primarily from research in the Pilot's Associate programs, enable the use of sophisticated mathematical analysis techniques for addressing this problem quickly and easily. We present initial work on the use of Singular Value Decomposition techniques for analyzing the “fit” between the information presenting capabilities of a set of IPFs and the information needs of a set of piloting tasks and show how this technique can be used to provide design recommendations for the global set of IPFs available for presentation in the cockpit.

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