Temporal displays

The temporal display is a way to graphically illustrate the threat situation for an operator of a mobile platform (aircraft, ship and land vehicle) in combat. It has grown out from the knowledge that each mobile platform has an energy content in its movement in relation to other platforms, and that this energy content can be expressed in terms of action possibilities and time intervals. The report describes how these circumstances might be illustrated with graphical techniques in a temporal display, sometime also called threat display. Furthermore, an important information source for the threat display is described. This method, Hidden Markov Models, can infer target type information from sensor data. An example shows how flying patterns can reveal some facts about the type of an aircraft. Finally, a theory within cognitive science is presented, where operator and machines are described in a common terminology with the aim to improve the integration of operators and operator roles in complex technical systems. Cognitive Systems Engineering uses the decision loop as a common tool towards which both operators and machines can interact in all kinds of decision support tools.