Developing adaptive mobile support for crisis response in synthetic task environments

This paper presents an experimental platform for the development and evaluation of mobile decision support for crisis response operations. Using a game-engine, synthetic task environments can be created in which coordination support and the usability of adaptive user interfaces for first responders can be examined in a highly controlled manner. Results of the first experiment in which the platform was used to examine the influences of map size and spatial ability on task performance and situational awareness are presented, and ongoing work is described. Keywords: crisis response operations, synthetic task environments, adaptive support systems