Movement compatibility for configurations of displays located in three cardinal orientations and ipsilateral, contralateral and overhead controls

Stereotype strength and reversibility were determined for displays that were in the Front, Right and Left orientations relative to the operator, along with rotary, horizontally and vertically-moving controls located in the overhead, left-sagittal and right-sagittal planes. In each case, responses were made using the left and right hands. The arrangements used were (i) rotary control with a circular display (ii) horizontal/transverse control moving forward/rearward in the left and right-sagittal planes or transversely in the overhead plane and (iii) vertical/longitudinal control moving vertically in the left and right-sagittal planes and longitudinally in the overhead plane. These are all combinations not previously researched. Stereotype strength varied with display plane, type of control and plane of control. Models for the stereotype strength are developed, showing the contribution of various components to the overall stereotype strength. The major component for horizontally-moving controls comes from the "visual field" model of Worringham and Beringer (1998): for the rotary control important factors are "clockwise-for-clockwise" and the hand/control location effect (Hoffmann, 2009a). Vertically-moving controls are governed by a simple 'up-for-up' relationship between displays and controls. Overall stereotype strength is a maximum when all components add positively. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.