Static Representation of Object Motion

Displaying motion information is useful in dynamic tasks, such as tracking or predicting the course of moving objects or systems (e.g., unmanned ground or air vehicles, troops, or weather). Static representations of object motion may be useful when technological limitations prevent use of dynamic displays. The present experiment examined people's interpretations of a variety of static cues to represent object motion. Participants viewed and rated two static types of representation of object motion – motion lines and arrows. The features of object motion that participants rated were distance traveled, direction, path, speed, and acceleration. The results show that observers reliably interpret certain static cues to represent features of object motion, especially distance, direction, path and speed; the cues examined were not interpreted as representing acceleration. The results are interpreted as guidelines for design of displays that include object motion information.