Visual operator interface for technical systems

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a visualized operator interface for a technical system. A method of controlling a visualized operator interface (200) is proposed, the visualized operator interface (200) comprising a plurality of predefined areas (210), the plurality of predefined areas (210) comprising one or more monitoring areas configured to display a visualized element representing a current state of a technical system (290). According to the method, it is determined (110) that one of the monitoring areas is to be prioritized; and an incomplete visibility reduction (140) is initiated in at least one other area of the visualized operator interface, wherein the prioritized monitoring area is not affected by the visibility reduction.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This disclosure relates to the field of visual operator interfaces for controlling or monitoring technical systems. Specifically, this disclosure relates to multi-screen interfaces. Background Technology

[0002] It is not uncommon for industrial control stations to have up to nine screens. One person cannot physically view all the screens simultaneously. Instead, the operator typically uses one or more screens located within his / her focal (or central) field of view (i.e., in front of his / her eyes). Other screens are located in the operator's peripheral field of view; that is, the operator cannot clearly see the content depicted on them. It is up to the operator to decide which specific task to perform and which specific screen to use at a given moment; for example, she might decide to read a manual on one screen while occasionally glancing at an overview screen. Because there are so many screens, while the operator is actively engaged with one screen, she may miss urgent information depicted on another screen that actually requires more attention, such as an ongoing alarm or suspicious activity.

[0003] In conventional operator systems, there is no guarantee that an operator will immediately notice and begin responding to an alarm. Often, operators will even mute the audible alarm notifications because triggering too many alarms creates continuous noise in the control room. This can introduce a time delay before an operator notices and begins responding to an alarm, or they may even miss some alarms entirely. In some situations, this time delay is highly undesirable, such as in cases of serious emergency alarms where operators must react immediately to prevent undesirable consequences. Attempts to reduce or eliminate such time delays are discussed in J. Zhou's "Guiding operators' attention with the help of a visual aid system" (MSc thesis in Informatics). i It is described in (2019).

[0004] Further research in this field includes conference papers.

[0005] - "A Path-based Attention Guiding Technique for Assembly Environments with Target Occlusions" by P.Renner et al. (IEEE Virtual Reality2018);

[0006] - "Attention guiding techniques using peripheral vision and eye tracking for feedback in augmented-reality-based assistance systems" (IEEE Symposium on 3D User Interfaces (3DUI) 2017) by P.Renner et al.

[0007] In addition to reducing response delays, it is also necessary to verify whether the task the operator is currently handling is the most urgent or relevant; to encourage the operator to shift her focus; and / or to prompt the operator to pay attention to urgent information displayed in the out-of-focus area of ​​the visualization interface. Summary of the Invention

[0008] One object of the present invention is to provide a method for controlling a visual operator interface in a manner that facilitates operator attention, particularly potentially reducing reaction time to messages or alarms appearing in the focus area of ​​the interface. Another object is to propose a visual operator interface with these characteristics. The present invention achieves these and other objects according to the independent claims.

[0009] The first aspect relates to a method for controlling a visual operator interface comprising multiple predefined areas. One or more monitoring areas are configured to display visual elements representing the current state of a technical system, such as operating machinery, industrial processes, or large computer systems. Areas outside the monitoring areas may display different content, such as messaging applications, internet browsers, office applications, or non-professional content. In one embodiment, the method includes determining that one monitoring area will be prioritized. If this is the case, a partial visibility reduction is initiated in at least one other area of ​​the visual operator interface, wherein the prioritized monitoring area is unaffected by the visibility reduction. The determination of which monitoring area will be prioritized may be based on changes in the current state of the technical system, such as events, faults, alarms, and / or notifications.

[0010] It is well known that when actively engaged in intellectual activities, humans may virtually become oblivious to their surroundings. This mental state is often referred to as "flow," and it is assumed to occur under conditions of cognitive ease in the current activity—that is, when a human can fluently process and easily interact with information while remaining in a safe environment without any life-threatening or disruptive influences. The inventors have realized that if cognitive load increases, i.e., when a significantly higher level of cognitive (or mental) work is required to continue the activity, it can drive the operator out of the flow state, stop the ongoing activity, and seek out a more urgent task. The relationship between cognitive work and attention to a task is discussed in D. Kahneman's "Attention and Effort" (Prentice-Hall (1973), ISBN 9780130505187).

[0011] Preferably, one or more other areas of the visualized operator interface are neither turned off nor hidden, but simply made less perceptible. This is to allow for a soft detour from the current task and / or non-intrusive or non-invasive interactions. The inventors assume that stimuli that suddenly disrupt the operator's mental processes may introduce a recovery period that must pass before the operator is fully able to focus on the prioritized monitoring area.

[0012] In one embodiment, the visual operator interface includes at least three predefined areas such that if the area currently of interest to the operator experiences reduced visibility, the operator cannot immediately discern which area has been prioritized. Therefore, valuable reaction time is gained if the reduced visibility includes displaying visual cues identifying the prioritized monitoring area or visual guidance oriented towards the prioritized monitoring area in at least one other area of ​​the visual operator interface. Visual cues may be numbers, symbols, or other labels indicating the prioritized monitoring area. Visual guidance may include static or animated shapes representing direction, distance, etc., to the prioritized monitoring area. Furthermore, the prioritized monitoring area may also include pointers, frames, highlights, etc., that guide the operator's gaze to relevant information.

[0013] Further developments of this embodiment are also applicable to handheld devices, such as personal digital assistants, tablets, smartphones, and smartwatches. Then, if a non-prioritized area is displayed on the handheld device, the method further includes determining the position and / or orientation of the aforementioned other areas relative to the prioritized monitoring area; typically, this depends on the operator's hand position and orientation or the surface on which the handheld device is located. Visual guidance is generated to reflect the determined geometric relationships; it can be updated simultaneously with the public display of the visual guidance to illustrate subsequent operator hand movements.

[0014] In one embodiment, visibility reduction occurs gradually over time. Compared to instantaneous visibility reduction, gradual reduction may further softly deviate from the operator's current non-priority task. Gradual visibility reduction can be achieved by gradually increasing the intensity of the visibility reduction effect throughout the non-priority area. Alternatively, the visibility reduction effect is applied at full intensity, but limited to gradually increasing sub-regions of the non-priority area, for example, starting from the edge of the area and extending inwards.

[0015] In one embodiment, reduced visibility is combined with the display of overlays, such as solid or semi-transparent graphic elements that differ from normal or expected indicators of a malfunction in the visual operator interface, errors affecting the transmission of information from the technical system to the interface, etc. The graphic elements can be operator-recognizable, for example, from manual or previously displayed views within the visual operator interface. Seeing the overlays allows the operator to understand that the reduced visibility is intentional, rather than an illusion of the visual operator interface that should be ignored, or that troubleshooting the interface itself should be suggested.

[0016] In one embodiment, a computationally efficient implementation of reduced visibility in a non-priority area of ​​an interface displaying a live image stream is provided. As used herein, the qualifier “live” refers to continuous updates of the image, not necessarily images showing or representing real-time events. In this embodiment, instead of processing each image of the live stream or every nth image of the live stream (n≥2), a snapshot of an image is processed and displayed instead of the live stream. This reduces the computational load without compromising the operator, since reduced visibility would make the non-priority area at least partially illegible anyway. In addition to the efficiency gain, this embodiment is advantageous when the non-priority area displays screen images from applications unrelated to the technical system, i.e., because it does not require control of other applications that the user interface (or system administrator) typically does not have access to. Applications unrelated to the technical system can be separate from technical monitoring applications that display the status of the technical system; they can be messaging applications, internet browsers, office applications, or non-professional content.

[0017] Some other embodiments involve focusing the operator's attention on one or more predefined areas. Attention can be focused by tracking the operator's gaze, body posture, or proximity to the respective areas, or by determining which area the most recently actuated (requested or voluntary) visual element is located in. After understanding the operator's attention, visibility reduction can be conditional, meaning it is only performed if the operator does not voluntarily redirect her attention to the prioritized area. For example, visibility reduction can be initiated only if the operator's attention (if monitored) remains outside the prioritized monitoring area for a predetermined time period after a visual, tactile, or auditory notification. If the operator was already focused on the prioritized area when the notification was issued and no action is required, the criterion is evaluated negatively. In one implementation, the criterion can be evaluated in a simplified manner by focusing the operator's attention at the end of the predetermined time period, ignoring where attention was directed during that period.

[0018] Another use of knowledge about where the operator's attention is directed is to cancel visibility reduction when the operator's monitored attention enters the prioritized monitoring area. Alternatively, it can be canceled if the operator's monitored attention remains within the prioritized monitoring area for a predetermined second time period.

[0019] The second aspect relates to an industrial operator terminal having at least one visual display, a communication interface for receiving information relating to the current state of a technical system, and a processing circuitry system configured to generate a visual operator interface having the aforementioned characteristics.

[0020] This invention also relates to a computer program containing instructions for inducing a computer or, in particular, an operator terminal to perform the methods described above. The computer program can be stored or distributed on a data carrier. As used herein, "data carrier" can be a transient data carrier, such as modulated electromagnetic waves or light waves, or a non-transient data carrier. Non-transient data carriers include volatile and non-volatile memories, such as permanent and non-permanent memories of magnetic, optical, or solid-state types. Still within the scope of "data carrier," such memory can be fixedly mounted or portable.

[0021] Generally, unless otherwise expressly defined herein, all terms used in the claims shall be interpreted according to their ordinary meaning in the art. Unless otherwise expressly stated, all references to “a / an / the element, apparatus, component, method, step, etc.” shall be interpreted as referring to at least one instance of the element, apparatus, component, method, step, etc. Unless expressly stated otherwise, the steps of any method disclosed herein need not be performed in the exact order disclosed. Attached Figure Description

[0022] Various aspects and embodiments will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

[0023] Figure 1 This is a flowchart illustrating the basic and optional steps of a method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0024] Figure 2 , Figure 3 and Figure 4 An example of a physical method for generating a region for a visual operator interface is shown;

[0025] Figure 5 and Figure 6 The effect of gradually applying reduced visibility to non-priority areas of the visual operator interface is shown.

[0026] Figure 7 This is a block diagram illustrating the implementation of the visibility reduction effect to be applied to a real-time image stream; and

[0027] Figure 8 Visual prompts are shown to guide the operator's attention to a priority area of ​​the visual operator interface. Detailed Implementation

[0028] Various aspects of this disclosure will now be described more fully below with reference to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate certain embodiments of the invention. However, the invention may be embodied in many different forms and the embodiments should not be construed as limiting; rather, they are provided as examples so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of all aspects of the invention to those skilled in the art. Throughout the description, the same numerals refer to the same elements.

[0029] Figure 1 This is a flowchart of a method 100 for controlling a visual operator interface. This visual operator interface can be generated by an industrial operator terminal, which typically includes at least one visual display 220 (see...). Figures 2 to 4 ), a communication interface for receiving information related to the current state of the technical system 290 (see Figures 2 to 4 ), and processing circuitry systems. The visual operator interface may include multiple predefined areas 210 (see... Figures 2 to 4 and Figure 8 Multiple predefined regions 210 include one or more monitoring regions, which are configured as visual elements to display the current state of the technology system 290.

[0030] like Figure 2As shown, predefined areas 210 have a one-to-one relationship with physical devices. For example, visualization displays 220 are provided, and each display 220 generates an area 210 for the visualization operator interface. The visualization displays 200 can be placed side-by-side, such as... Figure 2 As shown. When viewed from an operator's position at a comfortable viewing distance, at least the outermost areas 210a, 210c, 210d, and 210f typically extend into the operator's peripheral field of view. When multiple visualization displays 220 are used, each visualization display 220 can be provided with an independent pixel value signal specific to that visualization display 220.

[0031] Alternative locations, such as Figure 3 As shown, a predefined region 210 can occupy a sub-region of an image on a visualization display 220. Here, the visualization display 220 can be provided with a single pixel value signal that carries information related to all predefined regions 210 displayed thereon.

[0032] Further alternative sites, such as Figure 4 As shown, the predefined area 210 can correspond to different windows 430 of the graphical user interface. Window 430 can be positioned in a mutually hidden arrangement; for example, one window can be placed in front of another window (a portion of another window). Switching between windows is typically done by the user via key combinations or cursor input; the inventors tend to avoid forcibly changing windows with priority areas, but the user should remain responsible for such switching so that she is not unnecessarily exposed to disruptive or sudden stimuli. Although Figure 2 and Figure 3 The options shown primarily apply to installed visualization displays, i.e., devices that are stationary during use, as they are placed or suspended in buildings or control station vehicles, but... Figure 4 The options in the document also apply to implementations on handheld devices.

[0033] The mixed configuration in which some of the regions 210 occupy the full image of the corresponding visualization display 220 while other regions 210 in each group share a single visualization display 220 is clearly included within the scope of this disclosure.

[0034] Figure 1 The method 100 described herein can be implemented by a processing circuit system of an industrial operator interface or by a device communicatively connected to the processing circuit system.

[0035] In the first step 110 of method 100, a monitoring area is determined to be prioritized within the monitoring area. This determination may be made as a result, for example, of receiving signals or messages from the technical system 290 or from sensors arranged therein via a communication interface. Alternatively, the determination may be based on polling information from the technical system 290 or a monitoring system associated with the technical system 290.

[0036] In subsequent step 140, incomplete visibility reduction is initiated in at least one other area of ​​the visualization operator interface, wherein the prioritized monitoring area is unaffected by the visibility reduction. Step 140 may include a sub-step 142 applying at least one effect. The effect may be selected as one or more of the following: blurring the image on the aforementioned other areas, distorting the image (e.g., swirl effect), reducing resolution (e.g., pixelated effect, pixelated effect), modifying text size or font, rearranging text or lines of text, freezing the image by pausing updates, rearranging sub-regions of the image (e.g., jigsaw puzzle effect), positive or negative rescaling, recoloring (e.g., grayscale effect), introducing a partial overlay (e.g., incomplete per-region translucency) on top of the image.

[0037] Visibility reduction can occur gradually over time. For example, the intensity of blurring, pixelation, recoloring, etc., can increase from near zero to full. Figure 5 The progression at times t = 0, 1, and 2 (arbitrary units) is shown, where the darker hue of region 210 corresponds to a stronger effect. Alternatively, a visibility reduction effect can be applied to progressively increasing areas of the non-prioritized region 210. This is in Figure 6 As shown, initially (t=0), the effect is applied to the narrow edge portion 211, while the central portion 212 remains unchanged. The edge portion 211 grows inward over time and occupies the entire region 210 at time t=2.

[0038] Optionally, step 140 further includes a sub-step 144 of displaying an overlay that allows the operator to distinguish reduced visibility from malfunctions in the visual operator interface and / or runtime errors unrelated to the technical system. For example, the overlay may include animations or may convey real-time information (e.g., the current clock time in seconds) to differentiate reduced visibility from an unintentional screen freeze.

[0039] Additionally or alternatively, step 140 may also include sub-step 146, namely, displaying a visual prompt (e.g., text or symbol) identifying the prioritized monitoring area in at least one other area of ​​the visual operator interface. In one embodiment, graphical elements or other visual guidance oriented towards the prioritized monitoring area are displayed. Figure 8As shown, the visual guidance can consist of arrows 810 in each of the non-priority areas 210b, 201c, and 210d, which are substantially aligned with the direction pointing to the priority area 210a of the interface 200. If the non-priority area 210 is displayed on the handheld device, the method further includes determining the position and / or orientation of the aforementioned other areas relative to the priority monitoring area; typically, this depends on the operator's hand position and orientation or the surface on which the handheld device is located. The direction from the handheld device to the fixed display 210, which shows the other areas 220 of the visual operator interface, can be determined by arranging a short-range radio transmitter on the latter. Visual guidance is generated to reflect the determined direction. Alternatively, the areas on the handheld device can simply suggest that the operator look at the fixed display 210 and allow her to find the priority area 220 without specific guidance.

[0040] Step 140, which initiates visibility reduction, can be conditional on whether the operator's attention has been directed to the priority area 210 and / or whether it has moved to the priority area 210 as needed. This conditional execution can begin in step 120, i.e., by issuing a visual, auditory, tactile, or other notification indicating that a change in attention is necessary. Similar notifications have been used in existing industrial monitoring systems for a long time; as initially discussed, this can explain alarm fatigue experienced by some operators, who tend to ignore such notifications. In decision step 130, the visual operator interface recognizes whether the user has changed her attention as needed. The criterion to be evaluated could be whether the operator's attention remains outside the priority monitoring area for a predetermined first time period after notification step 120; this criterion can be evaluated in a simplified manner by simply determining where the operator's attention is directed when the first time period expires. If attention is indeed outside the priority area (Y branch), the execution of method 100 proceeds to step 140, thereby initiating visibility reduction. If the evaluation has no verification criterion (N branch), no action is required and method 100 ends.

[0041] To achieve step 130, operator attention can be monitored via gaze tracking (or eye tracking). For this purpose, both standalone and embeddable devices are available in devices such as Tobii. TM Smarteye TM Or Hololens TM Available commercially from brands such as [brand name missing]. Gaze tracking hardware can be mounted, for example, near the visualization display 210 or worn by the operator. For the purposes of step 130, estimating the gaze direction with moderate accuracy and / or moderate spatial resolution may be sufficient; the basic information is which area 220 the operator is viewing on the visualization operator interface.

[0042] Equivalent methods for obtaining this information include:

[0043] - Track the operator's body posture relative to the area visualized on the operator interface.

[0044] - Sensing the proximity of the operator to area 220 of the visual operator interface (e.g., via a capacitive sensor mounted near the visual display 210),

[0045] - Determine the area 210 where the operator most recently activated a visual element (e.g., input defined by a mouse / trackball click or other cursor).

[0046] - Request the operator to prioritize visual elements in the monitoring area (e.g., clickable confirmation buttons), provided that forced interaction with the operator is considered acceptable.

[0047] As seen above, decision step 130 conditionally initiates visibility reduction 140. As a supplement or alternative, conditional termination of visibility reduction can be achieved through a subsequent decision step 150. Decision 150 concerns whether the operator's monitored attention has entered the prioritized monitoring area. Alternatively, decision 150 concerns whether the operator's monitored attention has remained in the prioritized monitoring area for a predetermined second time period. For either criterion, a positive decision (Y branch) triggers the cancellation 160 of visibility reduction. If the decision is negative (N branch), visibility reduction can be maintained and the criterion re-evaluated after another predetermined (third) time period.

[0048] Figure 7 A signal processing architecture that can support efficient implementations of some embodiments of the present invention is schematically illustrated. Application 790 provides a screen image stream 791, which includes screen images to be sequentially displayed on area 210 of a visualization operator interface. Application 790 may be a technology monitoring application for visualizing the current state of technology system 290. Alternatively, application 790 may be an irrelevant application, such as a messaging application, internet browser, office application, or non-professional content. The position of switch 730 corresponds to the normal functioning of the architecture, i.e., at times when there is no application visibility reduction, causing screen image stream 791 to be forwarded to area 210 along the upper branch under unchanged conditions. The lower branch is used to provide the image with reduced visibility to area 210. It includes an image processing stage 720 and an optional cache or memory 110 upstream therefrom. The image processing stage 720 is operable to receive the image, apply the visibility reduction effect, and output the processed image, which is provided to area 210 when switch 730 is in the lower position. The lower position of switch 730 can indicate that an overlay is drawn on top of the normal image.

[0049] Optional memory 110 is configured to temporarily store images from stream 791, i.e., metaphorically taking a snapshot of image stream 791, which is then fed to image processing stage 720. Snapshots can be generated using general operating system functions, such as "print screen". The processed image output by processing stage 720 can be kept on area 210 whenever reduced visibility is required. In embodiments where memory 110 is not provided (i.e., no snapshots), it may be necessary for image processing stage 720 to process the entire screen image stream 791, which implies a slightly higher computational workload.

[0050] The various aspects of this disclosure have been described above primarily with reference to several embodiments. However, as will be readily understood by those skilled in the art, other embodiments besides those disclosed above are also possible within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method (100) for controlling a visual operator interface (200), the visual operator interface (200) including a plurality of predefined areas (210), the plurality of predefined areas (210) including one or more monitoring areas, the one or more monitoring areas being configured to display visual elements representing the current state of a technology system (290), the method comprising: Based on the signals received from the technical system, one of the monitoring areas (110) will be prioritized; The operator's attention is focused on one of the predefined areas, which is not a monitored area to be prioritized, and the focus is based on one or more of the following: Track the operator's line of sight. Track the operator's body posture relative to the area of ​​the visual operator interface. Sensing the proximity of the operator to the area of ​​the visual operator interface. Determine the area containing the visual element most recently activated by the operator. The operator is requested to prioritize the visualization elements in the monitoring area. as well as By applying (142) at least one graphical effect to at least one other predefined area to initiate incomplete visibility reduction (140) in the at least one other predefined area in the visualization operator interface, wherein the prioritized monitoring area is unaffected by the visibility reduction, and The reduced incomplete visibility (140) is conditional on whether the operator’s attention has been directed at the prioritized monitoring area.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the visibility reduction (140) is achieved by applying (142) at least one effect selected from the following: blurring, distortion, reduced resolution, modification of text size or font, freezing, rearrangement of sub-regions, rescaling, recoloring, and introduction of partial overlay.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: The visual operator interface (200) includes at least three predefined areas (210); and The reduced visibility (140) includes displaying (146) a visual cue identifying the prioritized monitoring area or a visual guide (810) toward the prioritized monitoring area in at least one other predefined area of ​​the visual operator interface.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the other predefined area is a visual display of a handheld device, the method further comprising: The location and / or orientation of the other predefined regions relative to the prioritized monitoring region are determined, and the visualization guidance (810) is generated based on the location and / or orientation.

5. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the reduction in visibility occurs gradually over time.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the visibility reduction (140) comprises one or more of the following: The intensity of the effect is gradually increased in at least one other predefined area of ​​the visual operator interface; The effect is applied to the progressively increasing portions of the other predefined regions; The effect is initially applied to the edge portion (211) of the other predefined regions and gradually extends inward to the edge portion.

7. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the visibility reduction (140) comprises: Display (144) overlay, which allows the operator to distinguish the reduced visibility from malfunctions of the visual operator interface and / or runtime errors unrelated to the technical system.

8. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the visibility reduction is achieved by processing a real-time stream (791) of a screen image addressed to at least one other predefined area of ​​the visual operator interface.

9. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the visibility reduction is achieved by acquiring a snapshot of an image in a real-time stream (791) of screen images addressed to at least one other predefined area (210) of the visual operator interface, the snapshot being processed and displayed instead of the real-time stream.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the real-time stream (791) of the screen image addressed to the at least one other predefined area of ​​the visual operator interface is independent of the technical system (290).

11. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: Issue (120) notification, The visibility reduction (130) is initiated only if the operator’s monitored attention remains outside the prioritized monitoring area for a predetermined first time period from the start of the notification.

12. The method according to claim 1 or 11, further comprising: When the operator's monitored attention enters the priority monitoring area, or when the operator's monitored attention has been kept in the priority monitoring area for a predetermined second time period, the visibility reduction (150) is canceled (160).

13. The method according to any one of claims 1, 2, and 11, wherein at least one of the following is true: a) The predefined area (210) of the visual operator interface corresponds to one or more of the following: A complete image of the installed visualization monitor. A sub-region of the image on the installed visualization display. Visual displays for handheld devices; b) From the operator's position, the predefined area (210) is juxtaposed in such a way that at least one area extends into the operator's peripheral field of view; c) The predefined area (210) corresponds to different windows (430) of the graphical user interface, which can be positioned in a way that hides each other.

14. The method according to any one of claims 1, 2 and 11, wherein the determination (110) of prioritizing one of the monitoring areas is based on a change in the state of the technical system (290), particularly based on events, faults, alarms and / or notifications.

15. An industrial operator terminal, comprising: At least one visualization display (220); A communication interface for receiving information relating to the current state of the technical system (290); as well as The processing circuit system is configured as follows: - This causes the at least one visualization display to generate a visualization operator interface (200) comprising: a plurality of predefined areas (210), the plurality of predefined areas (210) including one or more monitoring areas, the one or more monitoring areas being configured to display visualization elements representing the current state of the technical system (290), - Based on the received information related to the current state of the technical system, one of the monitoring areas will be prioritized. - Direct the operator's attention to one of the predefined areas, which is not a monitoring area to be prioritized, wherein the focus is based on one or more of the following: Track the operator's line of sight. Track the operator's body posture relative to the area of ​​the visual operator interface. Sensing the proximity of the operator to the area of ​​the visual operator interface. Determine the area containing the visual element most recently activated by the operator. The operator is requested to prioritize the visualization elements in the monitoring area. as well as - By applying at least one graphical effect to at least one other predefined area to initiate incomplete visibility reduction in the at least one other predefined area in the visualization operator interface, wherein the prioritized monitoring area is unaffected by the visibility reduction, and The reduced incomplete visibility (140) is conditional on whether the operator’s attention has been directed at the prioritized monitoring area.

16. A computer program comprising instructions for causing the device of claim 15 to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 14.

Images