Shared Spatial Situation Awareness as a Team Performance Indicator in Collaborative Spatial Orientation Task

The present study investigates the link between time taken by a team to perform a spatial orientation task and the evaluation of spatial shared situational awareness (SSA). Paired in teams, volunteers have to collaborate to send a vehicle to a specific location on a computer simulation as quickly as they can. The roles and information they have to reach that goal are different. Every 45 s participants are asked to mark on their map the location they believe the vehicle to be. Along with its real position, these marks are used to objectively evaluate spatial SSA. First results allow us to divide participants into three groups in accordance with Endsley’s distinction of Shared SA evaluation. Interestingly, fastest teams were not the ones with the most accurate and shared spatial representation of the situation. Potential use of such indicators in team training is outlined.