Multimedia interface design in process control

In industrial plants, the computer systems that automate and control the processes are becoming increasingly complex. The operators are therefore now less involved in the direct operation of the plant. Instead their role is becoming that of a supervisor monitoring the actions taken by the control system. In this monitoring role they are more concerned with ensuring efficiency rather than safety. Therefore, designers of process control rooms and interfaces are faced with the difficult task of providing the operator with information at appropriate levels of abstraction, in appropriate volumes at appropriate times. The PROMISE (process operators multimedia intelligent support environment) project aims to employ multimedia technology in a system which supports the designer in creating such interfaces. Most current interfaces in the process control area are essentially textual/numerical interfaces perhaps interspersed with the odd graphical display. There are several reasons for believing that communication through multiple media such as text, graphics, animation, sound and speech may be an improvement over most existing interfaces. In particular multiple media presentations should provide: an increased bandwidth enabling larger volumes of information to be communicated, improved means of drawing the operators attention to high priority information, and a wider choice of presentation methods which suggests that the appropriate level of abstraction should be easier to obtain