When you first see this new type of interface you may think, “This is simple!” After you watch it function for a while you may think, “Look at all it does!” And after a bit you may think, “This is so powerful, and yet, it continues to look so simple!” That simplicity, versatility, and power come from our project’s “cognitive design.”
The discipline of Cognition, in part, explores how humans process information and arrive at decisions. Decisions lead to behaviors. When operating a vehicle, the “highest level” cognitive task for an operator is making decisions. The decisions made by the operator, and the behaviors that result from those decisions, determine if the vehicle is operated safely. Any aspect of a visual interface that delays understanding slows the process of making decisions. In dynamic environments, delays can have disastrous consequences.
To achieve the goal of a display that can be perceived and understood in a single, quick glance, it was first necessary to carefully reconsider how traditional instrument cluster elements communicate “meaning.” What I found was that many elements require as many as ten combined perceptual and cognitive “steps” before their meaning is understood. Why is that important? Each of those steps takes time. Time spent trying to discern “meaning” delays understanding.
Another issue I discovered was there is no consistent “method” for displaying information in traditional instrument clusters. It is up to the operator to appreciate how each element must be “read,” and then, apply that method to extract the “meaning” from the element. Two elements that look similar may have to be “read” in different ways. One may relate to units of time, while the other relates to units of volume. This lack of a consistent method adds to the “cognitive load” the operator experiences. The greater the load, the slower understanding is achieved.
A third issue I discovered was the potential for “cognitive overload.” The more elements there are in a cluster, the greater the cognitive load on the operator. The increased cognitive load, again, slows understanding.
These several discoveries, and others, led to this new project and its family of U.S. Patents. The organization of elements, and the design of each element, limits the number of cognitive steps required to read them. Development of a consistent “method” ensures that elements that appear similar are read the same way. And, although each display is capable of showing an infinite number of measures, artificial intelligence used in our software ensures that only the most important elements are displayed at any one time. Simple, versatile, and powerful.
That is an extremely brief explanation of how the cognitive design of these new interfaces make “complicated stuff” look “simple.” In the Spring of 2022 I will provide more complete detail about how all of this is done.
