Mauve Control
Summary
MAUVE Control is a dual display interface which allows an operator to simultaneously control four simulated UAV missions. Created for the MIT Humans & Automations Lab and used in an UI study with actual military UAV operators. Vestal designed and built the entire application and developed the GUI with the guidance of the Humans & Automations Lab.
Problem
Currently, the military needs four operators to control one UAV. They approached the MIT Human & Automations Lab to design a UI which reverses that ratio. MAUVE Control is a proof-of-concept designed to operate on two displays, allowing an operator to simultaneously control four UAVs at the same time. MAUVE Control has four different modes relating to the UI and level of HCI. MAUVE Control was used in a study involving actual UAV operators in the Spring of 2005. Vestal developed the GUI and UAV simulator in conjunction with Paul Mitchell, whose Master’s thesis was on the study and design of the timelines.
Approach
Originally Vestal Design was given PowerPoint mockups which showed the basic layout and key concepts behind MAUVE Control. Over the following months, Vestal worked with Paul and our advisor to further develop the interface into a functional GUI. From the start, we knew the timeline would be displayed in four modes: Manual, Passive, Active, and Super Active. The studies were conducted to determine what level of UI and HCI resulted in the most successful mission operations. Subjects were asked to replan UAV missions in real time based on information they could infer from the timeline. Since the environment was dynamically changing, with emerging targets and threats, we were also testing a subject’s situational awareness.
Solution
Designed to use the full size of two displays, MAUVE Control contains two main windows: one for mapping and controlling a UAV, and another to display the timeline and UAV status. The two displays were linked together through common colors: UAV symbols in both would update their color in real-time to show their status. The control display allowed users to command UAVs in the simulation to arm, fire, and perform a variety of tasks. They could also change the UAVs route, and add or remove waypoints as they saw fit. The map in the control display was the next generation of the mapping interface used in the Strike View project. The other display, which contained the timelines for each UAV varied by experiment. The timeline display also contained a message window and chat dialogue, to inform users of changes in the environment and ask questions to test their situational awareness.
Manual Mode - The Manual Mode only displays basic information in a text format. In this mode, along with the Passive and Active modes, the user is required to manually initiate actions such as arming and firing, which is UAVs are controlled today.
Passive Mode - The Passive Mode uses a graphical timeline that displays the UAV’s future actions, and windows of opportunities (ToT) for targets in the UAV’s route. Actions on the timeline are color coded according to mililtary specifications, and use the same color scheme as the UAV symbols. The timeline also displayed when waypoints would be reached, and time slots when targets were active and could be fired upon. The timeline updates in real-time to reflect actions taken by a user. In this respect, the timeline respresents an especially powerful information visualization technique. Users could actively drag waypoints until they observed that the UAV’s timeline matched when a target was active.
Active Mode - In the Active Mode, users are given additional timeline information through reverse shading of the timeline. Areas of high workload for the user (when they will have to approve multiple UAV actions at the same time) are displayed clearly while the rest of the timeline is shaded over. In this mode, the timeline also displays dialogue boxes suggesting actions the user should take to alleviate high workload situations.
Super Active Mode - In this mode, operators controlled the UAVs through management by exception. Therefore, there was no need for a reverse shading technique to identify areas of high workload. Users were shown a Passive timeline, and dialogue boxes appeared next to each timeline with a countdown to actions the UAV would take (arming, firing on a target, etc). While management by exception is becoming more popular, there is also an increasing concern that it leads to the loss of situational awareness.
