Effects of input method and display mode of situation map on early warning aircraft reconnaissance task performance with different information complexities

Early Warning Aircraft (EWA) are the main force for air detection and its Human-Machine Interface (HMI) should be designed to support task efficiency and safety. With the application of advanced input method and interface design in EWA, little is known about their actual usability in terms of human factors and ergonomics. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of the input method and display mode of the situation map on EWA reconnaissance task performance with different information complexities. Eighteen participants attended a three-factor within-subject design experiment with input method (touch screen and mouse), display mode of the situation map (color and grayscale), and information complexity (high and low) as the independent variables. Participant behavior performance, subjective workload, heart rate/heart rate variability, and eye movements were recorded as the dependent variables. The results suggest that a touch screen requires greater task completion time and has greater physical demands than mouse operation; however, it also facilitates information processing by reducing the average fixation time. Color mode significantly decreases saccade counts compared to grayscale mode and is considered more appropriate for target search tasks as it induces less visual search load. High information complexity produces significant negative effects on behavior performance and subjective workload. It also has significant interaction effects with input method on fixation and saccade counts. The findings have implications in the optimization design of Human–Machine Interface for EWA task systems.