Workspace Control Diagrams and Head-Mounted Displays as Alternatives to Multiple Monitors in Information-Rich Environments

Abstract

In environments such as Navy command and control, supervision and multi-tasking are often hindered by a shortage of screen space. An obvious solution is to use more or larger monitors. An inexpensive and practical alternative is to use an interface that allows rapid switching between workspaces (screens of information), providing, in effect, a large virtual desktop. One potentially effective switching interface is a workspace control diagram—a meaningful arrangement of buttons, each of which provides access to and information for a particular workspace. In Experiment 1, participants best performed a task that required frequent navigation among workspaces using two real monitors but were nearly as proficient when using one monitor with a workspace control diagram operated by hot keys. In Experiment 2, participants performed concurrent tracking and monitoring tasks about equally using four monitors with all workspaces visible and using two monitors with a workspace control diagram. Additionally, we discuss the potential of a much more radical workstation design alternative: head-mounted displays.