We report on the latest large-scale disaster-response exercise conducted by our project, which involves a robotic system with both ground robots (UGVs) and aerial robots (UAVs). In particularly, we focus on aspects related to Human-Robot teaming, and the uptake of new technology by end-users ... Read more

Situation Awareness (SA) during tele-operation in robot-assisted disaster management has a major impact on the effectiveness and efficiency. Data perceived by the human and robot agents should be processed and shared in such a way that these agents can understand and direct the other agent's behaviors. E.g., for safe and effective tele-operation, the human (team leader and/or operator) and robot need to be aware of (1) the state, location, position and movement of the robot platform and its arms, and (2) the state of robot's environment (such as obstacles, ...). This paper presents an SA-ontology that formalizes the effects of SA-components on the shared control performance. It is based on literature research, interviews with subject matter experts and a field test during a disaster management exercise. The SA-ontology captured all information needs for the teleoperation, and provided further requirements for SA-support functions. ... Read more

People of low literacy experience difficulties while participating in society. Learning support software could help alleviate these difficulties. However, there is currently no overview of theoretically and empirically sound requirements for this kind of support. This paper uses the situated cognitive engineering method to create a requirements baseline for a virtual environment to support the societal participation education of low-literates (VESSEL), based on an analysis of the domain, human factors, and current applications. Four major outcomes are presented. First, a comprehensive overview is collected of the operational demands and human factors knowledge relevant to societal participation learning for low-literate citizens. Second, this overview is translated into a list of eight functional requirements: focused on low-literate learners, set in the context of societal participation, and supported by claims of cognitive, affective, and social benefits to learning. Third, a sample of Dutch societal participation learning support programs is assessed using these requirements, to highlight both current technology best practices and discrepancies between theory and practice. Fourth, virtual learning environment technology is suggested as an ‘enabling’ technology; an overview is shown of how virtual environments, actors, and objects can beneficially enable meeting the requirements baseline. Finally, directions for future study are discussed. ... Read more

On future battlefields, increasingly more sensor information will become available for military commanders to support mission execution. To improve (shared) situational awareness, decision-making and communication in face of this increased amount of information, the design of command and control (C2) systems must match the mental models and information needs of commanders. We compare two C2 interface variants, based on different rationales: decision support and personalization. Decision support integrates large amounts of information into categorized overviews, while personalization provides flexibility in (sensor) data representation and comparison. Four experienced commanders carried out simulated military field operations with both interface variants. User actions, eye movements, decision-making quality, situational awareness and mental effort were assessed, as well as interface usability. From this, we identified which interface features provided added value, depending on the tactical situation. This way, the best of both worlds can be combined to improve the design of future C2 systems. Copyright is held by the authors. ... Read more