Surgical strike: interface design across task domains

To what extent can similarities in the general demands placed on human performance in apparently disparate task domains be used to enhance human-machine interface design in each? How can the "lessons learned" in one area of human endeavour be systematically and successfully applied to another? What is the nature of the information that permits such transfer to occur? These are important questions currently being encountered in the realm of virtual environment (VE) systems design. Applications of VE technology originally developed for use in advanced tactical aviation settings are currently being used as models for the development of neurosurgical interface concepts. While at first glance the connection between air combat and surgery may seem a distant one at best, there are many important similarities between them. For instance, both task domains share at least ten common, important human performance attributes, each of which may provide key insights into how to import knowledge gained from one domain into the other. Each of these areas have important implications for designing successful technical systems to support human performance. This paper explores the notion that general principles of interface design, derived from a concern with optimizing the above aspects of task performance, can be derived from the study of apparently disparate task domains. To illustrate this general idea, we elaborate how cross-fertilization between neurosurgery and air combat can be used to successfully advance the design of interfaces to support both.