PAYOFFS AND CHALLENGES OF HUMAN SYSTEMS INTEGRATION (HSI) MODELING AND SIMULATIONS IN A VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT

To ensure that the human component is adequately addressed in system d esign, requirements for human performance, manning levels, training, a nd safety, the elements of human systems integration (HSI) must be con sidered early in the design process. HSI requirements are integrated t hrough implementation of HSI modeling and simulation (M&S). Objectives of HSI M&S are to: (1) assess alternative concepts in terms of human performance, productivity, workload, and; (2) provide hunan performanc e inputs to system level simulation, and determine the impact of syste m design and organization on human performance and safety; (3) quantif y relationships between human capabilities and system characteristics; and (4) visualize and quantify spatial relationships between humans a nd system elements. Payoffs of HSI M&S are the ability to: (1) acquire data on human performance, skills, and safety provisions in advance o f system construction; (2) model human performance in system concept a lternatives; (3) assess human performance as a function of human machi ne interface (HMI) design concepts; and (4) assess team performance as a function of HMI design, communications design, and collaborative pr oblem solving. Challenges of HSI M&S in a virtual environment include problems associated with: (1) virtual interfaces (of the simulated sys tem); (2) human perception and cognition in virtual environments; (3) virtual object manipulation; and (4) quality of data acquired during s imulation.