Auditory Icons as Warning and Advisory Signals in the U.S. Army Battlefield Combat Identification System (BCIS)

Abstract

The U.S. Army proposed the Battlefield Combat Identification System (BCIS) to diminish fratricide by providing five critical auditory and visual warning signals. The purpose of this experiment was to determine whether the auditory warning signals designed by the U.S. Army Human Research and Engineering Directorate (HRED) provided greater user association with the BCIS signal functions than did signals designed by a contractor. The contractor signals consisted of pure tones, while the HRED signals were auditory icons designed with intent to provide a high level of user association. The dependent variable was the subject's free-modulus magnitude estimation rating of the degree of association of the signal with the signal function. Subjects were 20 male U.S. Army Infantrymen. Data were analyzed using t-tests for paired samples. Results indicated that the mean perceived association was significantly greater for the HRED auditory icons in one of five cases, and greater (but not significantly so) in two additional cases. There were no other significant differences. Implications for auditory display design are discussed.