Crew Visual Behaviour in Ship Centralized Control Cabins¶

Status: emerging
Last updated: 2026-05-31
Sources: Yu2021_Chapter_Constructionofcrewvisualbehavi.Pdf
Tags: [visual-behaviour, control-cabin-design, ship-bridge, display-layout, visual-attention, maritime, workplace-design]

Summary¶

Crew visual behaviour in a ship's centralized control cabin is the cognitive behaviour by which crew obtain information about ship-system status from the cabin environment, including inspection, alerting, tracking, alarm confirmation, and reading of operating instructions (Yu et al., 2021). The chapter argues that as cabins grow more information-dense, a well-designed human-machine interface and good visual comfort are necessary to reduce human error and support system safety. It proposes analysing crew visual behaviour to construct a visual optimisation mechanism for cabin design.

Body¶

Context¶

Yu et al. (2021), in their conference paper on constructing a crew visual behaviour mechanism for ship centralized control cabins, examine the cognitive behaviour by which crew obtain ship-system information from the cabin environment. They argue that as cabins grow more information-dense, a well-designed human-machine interface and good visual comfort are needed to reduce human error, and propose analysing crew visual behaviour to construct a visual optimisation mechanism for cabin design. Within this knowledge base the article is a maritime application of the perceptual and display-design foundations covered elsewhere: it operationalises the sensory ideas of Sensation And Perception and the display-layout concerns of Representation Design in a Workplace Design setting, and the monitoring-under-abnormal-conditions task connects to Supervisory Control Of Automation and Information Processing. (Unlike the other sources here, it is a Springer conference chapter, not part of the Salvendy & Karwowski Handbook.)

Key Points¶

Long voyages and complex cabins motivate the study. As ship tonnage and continuous sailing time increase, psychological demands on crew rise, and visual perception of ship cabins is receiving growing attention as a way to create a good working environment, extend safe sailing time, and reduce human-caused accidents. The control cabin concentrates display instruments, manipulators, signals, and alarms, making the human-machine interface the direct platform for interaction and a determinant of operational safety (PDF pp. 2–3, orig. pp. 503–504).

Yu et al. define crew visual behaviour as the cognitive behaviour of obtaining relevant ship-system information — status parameters, equipment status, operating trends — from the cabin environment, including inspection and confirmation of operating status, alerting and tracking of parameter changes, discovery and confirmation of alarm information, and reading of operation instructions. Under normal conditions the crew mainly monitors system state with little manipulation, whereas under abnormal conditions the visual task becomes more complex as crew track functional parameters to confirm they remain within safety tolerances (PDF pp. 3–4, orig. pp. 504–505).

Visual comfort and interface adaptability are treated as safety factors. Crew obtain information through sight, hearing, and touch, make decisions, and transmit control signals, so there must be good adaptability between sensory organs and displays and between movement organs and manipulators. Improperly designed interfaces may cause major accidents, and visual comfort is identified as a major factor in cabin design quality, supported by the U.S. Navy's 2005 application of the "Standards for the Habitability of Personnel at Sea" to evaluate an amphibious landing ship (PDF p. 3, orig. p. 504).

Conclusion¶

Yu et al. (2021) conclude that crew visual behaviour in the cabin's human-machine-environment system should be analysed to form a visual optimisation mechanism — one that reduces errors in operation, information reading, and control input while improving cognitive reliability, user experience, and operational comfort. This places maritime control-cabin design within the broader concerns of display layout, visual attention, and workplace design.

References¶

Yu, K., Jiang, A., Wang, J., Zeng, X., Yao, X. & Chen, Y. (2021) 'Construction of Crew Visual Behaviour Mechanism in Ship Centralized Control Cabin', in Stanton, N. (ed.) Advances in Human Aspects of Transportation (AHFE 2021). Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, vol. 270. Cham: Springer, pp. 503–510. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-80012-3_58.

Open Questions ¶

How should display layout in a centralized control cabin change between normal monitoring and abnormal high-demand conditions?
What measures of visual comfort best predict reduced human error in maritime control cabins?