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Indirect-VisionandVirtual-RealityTrainingunderVaryingDegreesofTask
DifficultyinBattlefieldScenarios
AkashRao
1*
,JibraanChahaal
1
,SushilChandra
2
,GreeshmaSharma
2andVarunDutt
1
1IndianInstituteofTechnologyMandi,HimachalPradesh,India
2InstituteofNuclearMedicineandAlliedSciences(INMAS),DRDO,Delhi,India
*CorrespondingAuthor:E-mail:akashrao.sse@gmail.com
Abstract
Ensuringsecurityandperformanceindefenceapplicationsisessentialforsurvivability
inmodernconflicts.Indirect-VisualDisplays(IVD)andVirtual-Reality(VR)designsplaya
majorroleinprovidingviewsoftheexternalenvironmentandintrainingoperatorsof
closedsystems(e.g.tanks,andunmannedgroundvehicles).ThetypeofIVD/VRdesign
usedplaysacrucialroleinthemilitarypersonnel’scognitiveprowessandtactical
adroitnesswhichdirectlyaffectshis/herdecision-makingability.However,currently
littleisknownabouthowexposuretoIVDandVRdesignsmayhelpoperatorsingetting
trainedinbattlefieldscenariosthatvaryintaskdifficulty.Themainobjectiveofthis
studywastodeterminetheinfluenceofanIVD/VRdesignonanindividual’sdecision
makingcapabilityundervaryingdegreesoftaskdifficulty.Battlefieldscenarioswere
designedwithtwovariationsinthedisplaydesign:A180*2IVDdesign,wherethe
computerscreenwouldbesplitintoanuppersection(projectingafrontviewof180°)
andalowersection(projectingabackviewof180°)andaVRdesign,cateringtoan
artificial3Dvisualenvironment.Variabilityinthedifficultyofthescenarioswerealso
introduced(asnovicelevelandprofessionallevel)throughimplementationofstate
machinesandprobabilisticnetworksintheenemy’sbrain.Atotalof48healthysubjects
playedboththenoviceandprofessionalscenariosinarandom orderinbothdisplay
designs.VariouscognitivemeasureslikeNASA-TLX,simulatorsicknessquestionnaire
(forVR)andbehavioralmeasuresnumberofbulletsfired,numberofattackerskilled,
effectivescoreweretakeninto considerationforanalysis.Whentheindependent
variableswereconsideredseparately,itwasobservedthatthesubjectswhofacedthe
professionalscenariofirstfaredbetterthanthesubjectswhofacedthenovicescenario
first,irrespectiveofthedisplaydesignsused.Itwasalsofoundthatthesubjectswere
morecomfortableundertakinganIVDtask.Weexpecttousetheconclusionsfrom this
experimentasameansfortrainingandevaluatingmilitarypersonnelforIVDandVR
technology’suse.
Keywords:
IndirectVisualDisplay,VirtualReality,NASA-TLX
Acknowledgements
Thisresearchwassupportedbyagrantfrom DefenceResearchandDevelopment
Organization(DRDO)titled,“DevelopmentofHuman-performancemodelingframework
viaphysiologicalandsignalprocessingtoolsforvisualcognitiveenhancementinIVD,
VRandARparadigms"(IITM/DRDO-CARS/VD/110)toVarunDutt.