Command & Control in Virtual Environments: Laboratory Experimentation to Compare Virtual with Physical

Research in command and control is advancing rapidly through a campaign of laboratory experimentation using the ELICIT (Experimental Laboratory for counterterrorism intelligence game Investigating Collaboration Information-sharing, and Trust) multiplayer online counterterrorism intelligence game. In...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Bergin, Richard D, Adams, Alicemary A, Andraus, Jr, Ramez, Hudgens, Bryan J, Lee, June G, Nissen, Mark E
Format: Report
Language:English
Subjects:
COMMAND AND CONTROL SYSTEMS
Computer Programming and Software
COUNTERTERRORISM
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
GAME THEORY
INTERACTIONS
MEDIA RICHNESS THEORY
ONLINE SYSTEMS
Operations Research
PERFORMANCE(HUMAN)
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
SOFTWARE AGENTS
SYMPOSIA
Unconventional Warfare
VIRTUAL REALITY
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Summary:Research in command and control is advancing rapidly through a campaign of laboratory experimentation using the ELICIT (Experimental Laboratory for counterterrorism intelligence game Investigating Collaboration Information-sharing, and Trust) multiplayer online counterterrorism intelligence game. In most ELICIT experiments, participants play the game through a Web interface and interact with one another solely through textual information exchange. This mirrors in large part the network centric environment associated with most counterterrorism intelligence work in practice, and it reflects what appears to be a widespread assumption about how to organize such work: in a physically distributed, virtual manner. Such reflection is consistent with considerable research (e.g., in Educational Psychology) prescribing such distributed, virtual environments for work performance. Alternatively, substantial research (e.g., Media Richness Theory) suggests instead that a more personal, physical environment offers potential to improve performance. Hence we have a theoretical conflict with potential to affect how the important work of counterterrorism intelligence is organized. The research described in this article addresses this theoretical conflict through a series of experiments to assess the comparative performance of people working in physical, face-to-face versus textual, virtual environments. Exercising great care to match experiment conditions and control for factors other than task environment, results elucidate important comparative performance effects and suggest compelling follow-on experiments as well as practical implications. Published in the Proceedings of the 15th International Command & Control Research & Technology Symposium, held in Santa Monica, CA (June 2010).