Comparative Analysis of Virtual 3-D Visual Display Systems Contributions to Cross-Functional Team Collaboration in a Product Design Review Environment

Abstract

The application of virtual environments to the product design process has intrigued researchers and practitioners in industry, government, and academia. Using virtual environment tools, design teams can evaluate future designs in synthetic environments before building physical prototypes, thus creating a unique capability that reduces cost, shrinks time to market, and improves product quality. However, a proliferation of visual display devices used to generate 3-D stereoscopic information is forcing organizations to decide which tools to use to enhance product design activities. This study evaluated, through comparative empirical testing and data analysis, how several commercially-available virtual 3-D visual display systems contribute to cross-functional team collaboration in a product design review. A 4x4 Graeco-Latin Square experimental design assessed the value of a Helmet Mounted Display, a Binocular Omni-Orientation Monitor, stereoscopic glasses with monitor, and traditional monoscopic CRT monitor technologies for use in a concept design review process. The experiment was conducted using personnel from several functional elements of the U. S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command. Team performance measures, questionnaires, and observer evaluation aided the assessment of tested display systems. Empirical evaluations revealed that design teams detected more errors when using the stereoscopic glasses and monoscopic CRT monitor systems, detected errors fastest when using the HMD system, and found no differences between the display systems for the time to resolve design problems. Subjective data were used to evaluate participant perceptions of each technology and user preferences.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 1998
Accession Number
ADA544145

Entities

People

  • Grace M. Bochenek

Organizations

  • University of Central Florida

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Autonomy
  • Biomedical
  • C4I
  • Engineered Resilient Systems
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Human Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Cognitive Systems Engineering
  • Cognitive Workload
  • Computational Science
  • Computer Graphics
  • Computer Programming
  • Computer-Aided Design
  • Computers
  • Engineers
  • Human Factors Engineering
  • Human Systems Integration
  • Human-Machine Interaction
  • Multiagent Systems
  • Network Science
  • Psychology
  • Test Methods
  • Three Dimensional
  • Virtual Reality

Readers

  • Enterprise Information Systems Architecture and Joint Command Capability Interoperability Support.
  • Human-Computer Interaction (HCI).
  • Software Engineering.