Ruffner, J. W., Woodward, K. G., and Piccione, D. (2000, July). Human factors design and training issues in the development of a night driving training aid. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 44th Annual Meeting, (p. 2-440). Santa Monica, CA: Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.
Contact
Information:
DCS POC:
Dr. John W. Ruffner (ext 243) jruffner@dcscorp.com
Kim G.
Woodward (ext 388) kwoodwar@dcscorp.com
Phone number:
(703)
683-8430 FAX number: (703) 836-6509
Address:
DCS Corporation, 1330 Braddock Place, Alexandria, Virginia 22314
Abstract:
The use of night vision devices (NVDs), such as night vision goggles (NVGs) and thermal iaging devices, has the potential for enhancing tactical military driving operations at night by allowing increased mobility and safer operations. However, with this increased capability has come the requirement to manage risks and to provide suitable training. Results from field experiments and accident data suggest that the majority of the problems experienced by drivers using NVDs can be attributed to a limited understanding of NVD limitations and perceptual deficiencies. There is limited formal training available to help drivers obtain the required knowledge and skills and little opportunity to obtain and practice perceptual skills with representative imagery and scenarios prior to driving in the operational environment. In addition, there is evidence that NVD skills for driving are highly perishable and require frequent practice. NVD users need early and continued exposure to the night environment across a broad range of visual conditions. In previous papers we summarized our work to develop a prototype PC-based training aid - the Night Driving Training Aid (NDTA). In this paper we expand and extend the human factors design issues and lessons learned presented previously. These include: (1) it is important to obtain customer and end-user involvement early on to ensure that their requirements, needs, and expectations are determined soon enough in the development process to influence design decisions and training aid capability development; (2) the ability to have a flexible instructional software architecture that permits the use of rapid prototyping to obtain frequent and timely user input greatly facilitates training aid development; (3) it is important to recognize the capabilities and limitations of the instructional technology, software, and hardware, their implications for meeting the instructional goals, and the tradeoffs that are required; (4) material from other NVG training domains (e.g., aviation) is useful, but must be carefully reviewed and edited to be suitable for the intended military driving population and to adequately reflect the NVG driving context.