(A) new framework for developing requirements of a common operational picture to support distributed situation awareness

Abstract

Establishing and maintaining Distributed Situation Awareness (DSA) in today’s complex socio-technical system is of great concern for safe operation in everyday work. The concept of Common Operational Picture (COP) based on the network centric capability has great opportunity to support DSA. However, there is not enough research on the systematic framework for developing requirements of a COP. Users of a COP can be easily overwhelmed by information overload, if it is not designed very carefully. The aim of this study was to create a systematic framework able to generate requirements of a COP which can support DSA while minimizing information overload. The new framework is a combination of Word Domain Analysis (WDA) and Functional Resonance Analysis Method (FRAM) with the perspective of DSA. The framework was applied to a weapon system test range as a case study. The requirements generated by the framework were organized as a multi-layered information structure and represented as a user interface for an illustration. It was found that the system model obtained by the new framework was effective not only in capturing system constraints but also in describing work as done. The requirements developed by the new framework covered all the important items generated by the conventional approach, and the new framework could identify safety critical items which were missed by the conventional approach. The suggested framework was effective in developing requirements of a COP which can support DSA. The multi-layered information structure derived by the suggested framework and their representation as a user interface can lessen cognitive load on users in a complex and dynamic situation where multiple agents participate in a mission to achieve a common goal.