Comparing 2D and 3D Displays for Trend Estimation: The Effects of Display Augmentation

Abstract

The proximity compatibility principle (PCP) predicts that integrated displays will show superior performance to separated displays for integrated tasks. Hollands, Pierce, and Magee (1998) compared 2D and 3D displays for a trend estimation task and found that 2D displays were better than 3D displays for integrated tasks. These results were inconsistent with the predictions of the PCP. The present study added line and mesh connections to the integrated display format to make existing emergent features more salient. Four display formats were tested: 2D, 3D Control, 3D Lines, and 3D Mesh. Twenty-four participants completed 256 trials evaluating the effect of display format, vergence rate, vergence direction, and starting distance on trend estimation. Results showed advantages for the 3D Mesh and 3D Line displays. A general advantage was found for faster vergence rates, and converging trends when the lines start closer together.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Buttigieg

M. A.

Sanderson

P. M.

(1991). Emergent features in visual display design for two types of failure detection tasks. Human Factors, 33, 631–651.

Carswell

C. M.

(1990). Graphical information processing: The effects of proximity compatibility. In Proceedings of the Human Factors Society 34th Annual Meeting, (pp. 1494–1498). Santa Monica, CA: Human Factors Society.

Carswell

C. M.

Wickens

C. D.

(1987). Information integration and the object display: An interaction of task demands and display superiority. Ergonomics, 30, 511–527.

Cleveland

W. S.

(1985). The elements of graphing data. Pacific Grove: Wadsworth.

Elvers

G. C.

Dolan

N. J.

(1995) A comparison of the augmented bar display and the object display. Ergonomics, 38, 777–792.

Hollands

J. G.

Pierce

B. J.

Magee

L. E.

(1998). Displaying information in two and three dimensions. International Journal of Cognitive Ergonomics, 2, 307–320.

Liu

Wickens

C. D.

(1992). Use of computer graphics and cluster analysis in aiding relational judgement. Human Factors, 34, 165–178.

Sanderson

P. M.

Flach

J. M.

Buttigieg

M. A.

Casey

E. J.

(1989). Object displays do not always support better integrated task performance. Human Factors, 31, 183–198.

Sanderson

P. M.

Haskell

Flach

J. M.

(1992). The complex role of perceptual organization in visual display design theory. Ergonomics, 35, 1199–1219.

10.

Schutz

H. G.

(1961). An evaluation of methods for presentation of graphic multiple trends (Experiment 3). Human Factors, 3, 108–119.

11.

Shiffman

H. R.

(1990). Sensation and perception: an integrated approach (3rd ed.). New York: Wiley.

12.

Wickens

C. D.

Andre

A. D.

(1990). Proximity compatibility and information display: Effects of color, space, and objectness on information integration. Human Factors, 32, 61–78.

13.

Wickens

C. D.

Carswell

C. M.

(1995). The proximity compatibility principle: Its psychological foundation and relevance to display design. Human Factors, 37, 473–494.

14.

Wickens

C. D.

Hollands

J. G.

(in press). Engineering Psychology and Human Performance (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

15.

Wickens

C. D.

Merwin

D. H.

Lin

(1994). Implications of graphics enhancements for the visualization of scientific data: Dimensional integrality, stereopsis, motion, and mesh. Human Factors, 36, 44–61.