Process Control Simulation Research in Monitoring Analog and Digital Displays

I n t h e p a s t decade w e have w i t n e s s e d n o t on ly t h e development of t h e most g e n e r a l and complex p r o c e s s c o n t r o l environments b u t t h e most g e n e r a l and complex t o o l f o r d e a l i n g w i t h them, t h e computer. Although a l l i n d u s t r i a l p r o c e s s i n g is b e n e f i t t e d by more g l o b a l and s o p h i s t i c a t e d c o n t r o l , t h e most n o t a b l e example of c u r r e n t environments is t h e n u c l e a r power p l a n t . With t h e complexi ty n e c e s s i t a t i n g s ix by s i x t y f o o t p a n e l s u s i n g p rev ious t echno logy , few examples can s e r v e as a b e t t e r c o n t r o l int e r f a c e case s t u d y . t i o n s ( e . g . , I E E E P roceed ings , 1975; W i l l i a m s , S e i d e n s t e i n , & Goddard, 1980) and u n f o r t u n a t e h i s t o r i c a l e x p e r i e n c e ( e .g . , TMI) have emphas i z e d t h e need f o r development of e f f e c t i v e computer d i s p l a y i n t e r f a c e s . Both d e s i g n recommenda-