Human-Centered Visualization of Multidimensional Electromagnetic Information for Aviation: Effects of Visual Encoding and Spatial Layout

Aviation electromagnetic (EM) interfaces present complex, time-varying information and require designs that minimize unnecessary cognitive demands. However, evidence on how visual encoding and spatial layout affect performance in dynamic EM tasks remains limited. This study compared two dimensions of visual encoding (radar-range and target-threat) and two spatial layouts using a 2 × 2 × 2 repeated-measures design with 32 participants. A Unity 3D simulation incorporated concurrent target recognition and EM situation monitoring tasks. Reaction time, accuracy, NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLX), interface preferences, and eye-tracking metrics were collected. Target-threat encoding significantly affected target-recognition accuracy, with border-thickness threat encoding outperforming color-background encoding, whereas reaction time did not differ significantly. Radar-range encoding significantly influenced EM monitoring, with the grid encoding producing shorter reaction times than the color-overlay. Target-threat encoding and spatial layout significantly affected subjective workload. The grid-based radar sector combined with border-thickness threat encoding and the center layout was the most frequently preferred interface. Eye-tracking metrics and heatmaps further indicated that the center layout facilitated faster visual attention to the EM indicator, accompanied by fewer total fixations and lower gaze entropy after anomaly onset. These findings support perceptually separable target encoding and task-centered placement of high-priority EM information may inform future helmet-mounted and other wearable displays for dynamic, safety-critical tasks.