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Objective This work examines two human–autonomy team (HAT) training approaches that target communication and trust calibration to improve team effectiveness under degraded conditions. Background Human–autonomy teaming presents challenges to teamwork, some of which may be addressed through training. Factors vital to HAT performance include communication and calibrated trust. Method Thirty teams of three, including one confederate acting as an autonomous agent, received either entrainment-based coordination training, trust calibration training, or control training before executing a series of missions operating a simulated remotely piloted aircraft. Automation and autonomy failures simulating degraded conditions were injected during missions, and measures of team communication, trust, and task efficiency were collected. Results Teams receiving coordination training had higher communication anticipation ratios, took photos of targets faster, and overcame more autonomy failures. Although autonomy failures were introduced in all conditions, teams receiving the calibration training reported that their overall trust in the agent was more robust over time. However, they did not perform better than the control condition. Conclusions Training based on entrainment of communications, wherein introduction of timely information exchange through one team member has lasting effects throughout the team, was positively associated with improvements in HAT communications and performance under degraded conditions. Training that emphasized the shortcomings of the autonomous agent appeared to calibrate expectations and maintain trust. Applications Team training that includes an autonomous agent that models effective information exchange may positively impact team communication and coordination. Training that emphasizes the limitations of an autonomous agent may help calibrate trust.
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CHAOPT: A Testbed for Evaluating Human-Autonomy Team Collaboration Using the Video Game Overcooked!2
This paper introduces a new testbed called Cooking with Humans and Autonomy in Overcooked!2 for studying Performance and Teaming (CHAOPT). A validation study was conducted to examine the viability of Overcooked!2 as a research platform to explore teamwork and communication in human-autonomy teams. Unique measures derived from this platform such as productive chef actions (PCA), team expertise score and chef role contribution (CRC) distinguished performance between levels and players. Our findings demonstrate that we can derive meaningful team process, performance and communication measures and that the interactions within Overcooked!2 meet the requirements of psychological fidelity of teaming research.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1909847
- PAR ID:
- 10173020
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- IEEE Systems and Information Engineering Design Symposium
- ISSN:
- 2639-7439
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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ObjectiveThis study examines low-, medium-, and high-performing Human-Autonomy Teams’ (HATs’) communication strategies during various technological failures that impact routine communication strategies to adapt to the task environment. BackgroundTeams must adapt their communication strategies during dynamic tasks, where more successful teams make more substantial adaptations. Adaptations in communication strategies may explain how successful HATs overcome technological failures. Further, technological failures of variable severity may alter communication strategies of HATs at different performance levels in their attempts to overcome each failure. MethodHATs in a Remotely Piloted Aircraft System-Synthetic Task Environment (RPAS-STE), involving three team members, were tasked with photographing targets. Each triad had two randomly assigned participants in navigator and photographer roles, teaming with an experimenter who simulated an AI pilot in a Wizard of Oz paradigm. Teams encountered two different technological failures, automation and autonomy, where autonomy failures were more challenging to overcome. ResultsHigh-performing HATs calibrated their communication strategy to the complexity of the different failures better than medium- and low-performing teams. Further, HATs adjusted their communication strategies over time. Finally, only the most severe failures required teams to increase the efficiency of their communication. ConclusionHAT effectiveness under degraded conditions depends on the type of communication strategies enacted by the team. Previous findings from studies of all-human teams apply here; however, novel results suggest information requests are particularly important to HAT success during failures. ApplicationUnderstanding the communication strategies of HATs under degraded conditions can inform training protocols to help HATs overcome failures.more » « less
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Conference Paper:
- https://doi.org/10.1109/SIEDS49339.2020.9106686
