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This work, done for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, explores how distributed teams build shared mental models, or shared situational awareness (SSA). The study specifically examines the effects of using different modes of communication and visualization. A companion document, Defining and Measuring Shared Situational Awareness discusses various perspectives on defining SSA, factors that influence SSA, and thoughts on measuring SSA. A list of additional SSA-related articles and books can be found at http://www.thoughtlink.com/SSABiblio.htm.
This study involved an experiment using a web-based, multi-player game called SCUDHunt. SCUDHunt was designed by CNA and developed and implemented by ThoughtLink and CNA. SCUDHunt is a simple game of command, control, communication, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C3ISR) played by distributed players (similar to the popular game Battleship - but with multiple players each playing from their own computers). In SCUDHunt, each player commands one or more information assets and the objective is to work with other team members to find the 3 hidden SCUD launchers on a 5 X 5 grid map representing the fictional country of Korona. For more information about SCUDHunt itself, see http://www.scudhunt.com
The game is designed so that the distributed team members would need to share information in order to do well and so that the players' interpretations of the information would be easy to record and measure. The first experiment we conducted included six four-person teams. Each team played six different versions of the game, each version using a different combination of communication capabilities and visualizations. The experimental design was a Latin Square with factorial treatments.
The results of this experiment indicate that both communications and shared visualization greatly contribute to a team's ability to develop shared awareness. There was, however, surprisingly little difference in which mode of communication was used (e.g., voice communication vs. text chat). Broader results indicate that simple games like SCUDHunt, designed to target specific experimental goals, are a promising technique for conducting research in the field of understanding C3ISR and team behaviors.
