Eyes on the mission: Mixed methods assessment of eye-tracker-enabled interactive decision support in a simulated unmanned aerial vehicle system

Supervisors in military command and control (C2) environments face dynamic conditions. Dynamically changing information continuously flows to the supervisors through multiple displays. In this environment, important information can be overlooked due to the complexity of tasks and settings. This study examined the efficacy of an eye-tracker-based adaptive attention-guided decision support tool (DST) for supervisors in a simulated C2 environment. The DST monitors supervisors’ visual attention allocation in real-time and displays visually salient cues when critical changes or events are missed. Twenty-five military students participated in a simulated intelligence task. Results indicated that, although significant performance enhancement was observed with the adaptive DST, the improvement was specific to those who experienced it during the second round of the experiment. Eye-tracking analysis also showed that longer, more frequent fixations on critical areas of interest were negatively correlated with performance. Additionally, post-experiment interviews revealed that the adaptive DST was unobtrusive and positively received. These findings underscore the potential of real-time gaze-based interventions to optimize supervisory decision-making. Future research could incorporate AI-driven approaches to better support supervisors in complex task environments.