PRELIMINARY TOUCHSCREEN DISPLAY PROTOTYPING TOOL AND TOUCHSCREEN DESIGN STUDY

TOUCHSCREEN REPRESENT A SIGNIFICANT OPPORTUNITY TO ENHANCE THE OPERABILITY OF COMPLEX SYSTEMS MAN-MACHINE INTERFACES IN BOTH MILITARY AND INDUSTRY. THE ADVANTAGES OF A TOUCHSCREEN INTERFACE CAN BE SIGNIFICANTLY DIMINISHED (AND EVEN REVERSED IN EXTREME CASES) IF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE TOUCHSCREEN INTERFACE IS CARELESSLY DESIGNED. THE SIZE, SPACING, RESPONSE TIME, AND USE OF FEEDBACK MUST ACCOMMODATE THE USER'S ABILITY TO ACCURATELY AND QUICKLY SELECT TOUCH-SENSITIVE REGIONS ON THE SCREEN. A PRELIMINARY TOUCHSCREEN DISPLAY PROTOTYPING TOOLD WILL BE DEVELOPED UNDER THIS PROJECT, PROVIDING AN INTERACTIVE, GRAPHICAL, OBJECT-ORIENTED ENVIRONMENT FOR PROTOTYPING GRAPHIC DISPLAYS WITH TOUCHSCREEN INTERFACES. THE PRELIMINARY TOOL WILL BE USED TO SUPPORT A TOUCHSCREEN DISPLAY DESIGN STUDY. THE STUDY WILL BE PLANNED, EXECUTED, AND DOCUMENTED UNDER PHASE I OF THIS PROJECT, WILL EXAMINE HUMAN ENGINEERING ISSUES CONCERNING TOUCHSCREEN EMPLOYMENT, AND WILL INVESTIGATE KEY FACTORS IN THE DESIGN AND USE OF TOUCHSCREEN INTERFACES. BASED ON THE EXPERIENCE GAINED IN BUILDING THE PRELIMINARY TOOL AND IN CONDUCTING THE HUMAN FACTORS STUDY, A CONCEPTUAL DESIGN FOR A FULL-SCALE ADVANCED TOUCHSCREEN DISPLAY DEVELOPMENT TOOL WILL BE DEVELOPED.