Human Factors Guidelines for Interactive 3D and Games-Based ...

Figure 34: Exocentric presentation of EOD deployment scenario showing
incident control vehicles, remotely-operated vehicle (left of centre) and
early personnel search positions.
Source: Author’s Image Archive
Note also that the term “exocentric” is not restricted to examples where the end user’s viewpoint is
fixed to gain a “bird’s eye view” of a task or scenario. Exocentricity can also refer to tasks or parttasks
where the end user has to:
(a) maintain an awareness of the location and interrelationships of objects or
subsystems whilst operating in a predominantly egocentric frame of reference. For
example, a submariner working in a submarine’s Forward Escape Compartment needs
to know how the actuation of a specific high-pressure air valve affects, and is affected
by, other components of the HP Air system, not to mention the overall effect on the
submarine itself.
(b) maintain an awareness of a situation or process that may begin and/or extend
beyond his or her immediate first-person location. A good example of this can be found
in infection control training for hospital personnel. Observational analyses in British
Hospitals (undertaken in support of the Technology Strategy Board-sponsored project
mentioned at the beginning of this document) have shown that hygiene transgressions
often occur on some other part of a ward, away from the end user’s immediate
viewpoint. Providing an exocentric view as part of a new serious games training
package, it is hoped, will help train staff to understand how infection problems can
evolve from areas not under their immediate supervision (see also Figure 31).
The submarine example in Figure 35 (left) relates to dockside vessel familiarisation tasks. Not only
must students be able to name the services leading from the dock to the interior of the submarine,
they have to be aware of where these services terminate within the vessel. They are also required
to describe the external features of the vessel and how these link to interior components and
systems. Officers of the Watch and remotely-operated systems controllers (middle and right of
Figure 35) also have to maintain a form of exocentric awareness of the situation they are
42