Usability Issues of Multiple-Layer Display Technology

The recent development of the Multiple-Layer Display (or MLD) is unusual because unlike most inventions, the MLD was brought about by innovation, rather than as a solution to an existing problem. As such, little is known about its influence on usability and Human Computer Interaction (HCI). This paper is an investigation into the usability effects of the PureDepth Multiple-Layer Display, particularly in relation to map reading tasks. It also describes scenarios where the multiple-layer display can be put to best use. This experiment has shown that the participants could easily determine the layer that an image was being displayed on. This suggests that the layers can be used in place of colour coding, and other techniques, as a way of adding semantic information to an image. Participants also had no trouble working with information that had a direct relationship between layers of the display. A Focus+Context interface for the MLD was also reviewed, but user opinion suggests that this implementation needs further refinement