Tilannetietoisuutta tukevat näytöt prosessiteollisuuden valvomoissa

Finnish nuclear power plants are renewing their automation systems, control rooms and human-system interfaces. In control rooms there will be a change from analog technology to digital technologies and desktop-based workstations. These changes are challenging, and they have a great impact on operator practices. So far there is, however, quite little research on these effects. These issues have been tackled by two projects included in the SAFIR, the Finnish research program on the nuclear power plant safety, IDEC (Interaction Approach to the Development of Control rooms) and O’PRACTICE (Operator practices and human-system interfaces in computer-based control stations).The main focus of the studies conducted by the VTT Human activity and systems usability -team has been to assess the safety impacts of the digital user interfaces and to study how to utilize novel technologies in the nuclear power plant context. We have, for example, studied the effect of digital technology on the development of situation awareness and communication and collaboration in the NPP CR. Five studies are presented in this publication showing the effects of digitalization on operator practices and, more specifically, how different types of advanced displays can support the monitoring of power process. Part I: Operator activity in digital control rooms presents the first study that shows how new types of digital user interfaces affect operator practices in a conventional power plant. The effects are diverse and not all of them are positive. For example, in addition to secondary tasks also primary tasks related to process monitoring and operation will be changed. Different types of large screen displays may help the development of an overview of the power process, provided that the displays are carefully designed. Part II: Large screen displays in control room environment includes two studies. The literature review on the usage practices of large screen displays suggests that since large screens are qualitatively different from desktop-based screens, new types of interface metaphors and usability recommendations are needed. If carefully designed, large screen displays are able to support the build-up of accurate situation awareness and communication and collaboration between operators.