Intelligent Agent Transparency in Human-Agent Teaming for Multi-UxV Management.

OBJECTIVE: We investigated the effects of level of agent transparency on operator performance, trust, and workload in a context of human-agent teaming for multirobot management. BACKGROUND: Participants played the role of a heterogeneous unmanned vehicle (UxV) operator and were instructed to complete various missions by giving orders to UxVs through a computer interface. An intelligent agent (IA) assisted the participant by recommending two plans-a top recommendation and a secondary recommendation-for every mission. METHOD: A within-subjects design with three levels of agent transparency was employed in the present experiment. There were eight missions in each of three experimental blocks, grouped by level of transparency. During each experimental block, the IA was incorrect three out of eight times due to external information (e.g., commander's intent and intelligence). Operator performance, trust, workload, and usability data were collected. RESULTS: Results indicate that operator performance, trust, and perceived usability increased as a function of transparency level. Subjective and objective workload data indicate that participants' workload did not increase as a function of transparency. Furthermore, response time did not increase as a function of transparency. CONCLUSION: Unlike previous research, which showed that increased transparency resulted in increased performance and trust calibration at the cost of greater workload and longer response time, our results support the benefits of transparency for performance effectiveness without additional costs. APPLICATION: The current results will facilitate the implementation of IAs in military settings and will provide useful data to the design of heterogeneous UxV teams.

3-D gaming environment preferences: Inversion of the Y-axis.

Differences between preference groups based on the control scheme of the Y-axis or pitch (either default or inverted) in 3-D gaming were explored both with measures of pre-existing traits, as well as reactions to a short gaming session. Participants who preferred to invert the Y-axis controls showed significantly greater overall tendency for immersion than the non-inverters. Similarly, the participants who inverted the Y-axis also reported significantly higher levels of presence in the gaming task than the non-inverter. Finally, when participants' controls in the gaming task were mismatched to their preference, they exhibited significantly higher perceived workload in the gaming task. Implications of these findings focus on determining a basis for differences in the population, and how these differences may impact spatial reasoning and task-specific training, especially in aviation. PRACTITIONER SUMMARY: Differing preferences for controlling a user's visual perspective in a three-dimensional virtual environment were shown to exist in the population, with indications of increased workload when randomly assigned to use a non-preferred control scheme. These control preferences showed evidence of association with the user's tendency for immersion in virtual environments.

Minigames for Mental Health: Improving Warfighters' Coping Skills and Awareness of Mental Health Resources.

OBJECTIVE: Providing resources and stress management techniques is vital to the improvement of mental health outcomes of deploying warfighters. Despite the large amount of resources available, they are largely ineffective owing in part to lack of familiarity and knowledge of the resources themselves. This may be ameliorated through game-based practice environments. The objective of this study was to develop and evaluate a serious game to teach deploying military personnel about available mental health resources and coping skills, as well as to determine whether the inclusion of minigames improved learning outcomes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Participants played the serious game "Walk in My Shoes" (Novonics Corp., Orlando, FL) to learn about mental health resources and coping skills. Half of the participants applied this knowledge during the game by playing minigames, whereas the other half played minigames featuring irrelevant content. This study was conducted both in-person and online. RESULTS: Participants who practiced the content by playing relevant minigames had positive learning gains, whereas those who played minigames with irrelevant content did not improve from baseline. There were no differences with respect to whether the game was played in the laboratory or in a more naturalistic environment. CONCLUSIONS: Web-based serious games can be effective in providing information about resources and skills to deploying warfighters. Including minigames to provide practice in a game-based training environment such as a serious game improves learning outcomes. Such a serious game, regardless of the inclusion of minigames, also increases self-reports of deployment self-efficacy.

Optimizing learning in surgical simulations: guidelines from the science of learning and human performance.

Simulation-based training is rapidly becoming an integral part of surgical training. However, the effectiveness of this type of training is as dependent on the manner in which it is implemented and delivered as it is on the simulator itself. In this article, the authors identify specific elements from the science of learning and human performance that may assist educators in optimizing the effects of simulation-based training. These elements include scenario design, feedback, conditions of practice, and others. Specific guidelines for simulation-based surgical training are provided.