Multimodal threat cueing in simulated combat vehicle with tactile information switching between threat and waypoint indication

We investigated four display configurations for threat cueing in a simulated combat vehicle. The display configurations were a tactile belt only; the tactile belt combined with 3D audio; two visual displays combined with 3D audio; and a multimodal configuration (the visual displays, the tactile belt and 3D audio combined). The tactile display was also used for navigation information. The participant's main task was to drive according to the navigation information, and when threat cueing onsets occurred, as fast as possible align the heading of the combat vehicle with the displayed direction of the threat. The tactile display thus switched between navigation and treat cueing information. Performance was overall best with the multimodal display. Threat localization error was smallest with the visual and multimodal displays. The response time was somewhat longer with the tactile belt only, and especially in the front sector. This indicates interference between the two tasks, when threat cueing onsets occurred at the same position as the navigation information. This should however not be a problem in a real combat vehicle, since the sound alert will most likely not be excluded. Thus, if coded correctly tactile information may be presented for both navigation and threat cueing.