The use of simulators in maritime education and training is an essential component for developing seafarer competencies. Emerging immersive technologies, such as virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR) have created new and differing possibilities for maritime simulations and simulators. The increasing advancements and technical readiness of these systems have paved the way for a new generation and category of simulators and simulation-based experiences for professional education, training, and operations, which are relatively cheaper, more immersive, compact, and accessible in comparison to traditional configurations. Although the concept of utilizing VR, AR, and MR head-mounted display technologies for professional training and operations is not new, their recent developments and proliferation now allow for practical implementation and real-world application. Particularly, the adoption and integration of these technologies into the education, training, and operations of maritime industries provide new possibilities and paradigms to support operators and operations both on land and at sea. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the concepts of VR, AR, and MR applications specifically for maritime education, training and operations, including the potential benefits, drawbacks, and limitations of these systems.

Objective: In this review, we investigate the relationship between agent transparency, Situation Awareness, mental workload, and operator performance for safety critical domains. Background: The advancement of highly sophisticated automation across safety critical domains poses a challenge for effective human oversight. Automation transparency is a design principle that could support humans by making the automation’s inner workings observable (i.e., “seeing-into”). However, experimental support for this has not been systematically documented to date. Method: Based on the PRISMA method, a broad and systematic search of the literature was performed focusing on identifying empirical research investigating the effect of transparency on central Human Factors variables. Results: Our final sample consisted of 17 experimental studies that investigated transparency in a controlled setting. The studies typically employed three human-automation interaction types: responding to agent-generated proposals, supervisory control of agents, and monitoring only. There is an overall trend in the data pointing towards a beneficial effect of transparency. However, the data reveals variations in Situation Awareness, mental workload, and operator performance for specific tasks, agent-types, and level of integration of transparency information in primary task displays. Conclusion: Our data suggests a promising effect of automation transparency on Situation Awareness and operator performance, without the cost of added mental workload, for instances where humans respond to agent-generated proposals and where humans have a supervisory role. Application: Strategies to improve human performance when interacting with intelligent agents should focus on allowing humans to see into its information processing stages, considering the integration of information in existing Human Machine Interface solutions.

The role of the human element within complex socio-technical systems is continually being transformed and redefined by technological advancement. Autonomous operations across varying transport domains are in differing stages of realization and practical implementation, and specifically within maritime operations, is still in its infancy. This study explores the potential effects of autonomous technologies on future work organization and roles of humans within maritime operations. Ten Subject-Matter Experts working within industry and academia were interviewed to elicit their perspectives on the current state and future implications of autonomous technologies. Four main themes emerged: (i) Trust, (ii) Awareness & Understanding, (iii) Control, (iv) Training and Organization of Work. A fuzzier fifth theme also appeared in the data analysis: (v) Practical Implementation Considerations, which encompassed various sub-topics related to real-world implementation of autonomous ships. The results provide a framework of human element issues relevant for the organization and implementation of autonomous maritime operations. Practitioner Summary: As autonomous shipping rapidly moves closer to real-world implementation, it is critical to develop an understanding of future roles of humans in autonomous maritime operations. By eliciting expert knowledge from academics and practitioners, we establish a framework of relevant issues facing humans in emerging autonomous systems and operations at sea.

The evolving complexity of Virtual Reality (VR) technologies necessitates an in-depth investigation of the VR features and their specific utility. Although VR is utilized across various skill-training applications, its successful deployment depends on both technical maturity and context-specific suitability. A comprehensive understanding of advanced VR features, both technical and experiential, their prospective impact on designated learning outcomes, and the application of appropriate assessment methodologies is essential for the effective utilization of VR technologies. This systematic literature review explored the inherent associations between various VR features employed in professional training environments and their impact on learning outcomes. Furthermore, this review scrutinizes the assessment techniques employed to gauge the effects of VR applications in various learning scenarios. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) method was used to systematically select 50 empirical VR studies sourced from three (03) academic databases. The analysis of these articles revealed complex, context-dependent relationships between VR features and their impact on professional training, with a pronounced emphasis on skill-based learning outcomes over cognitive and affective ones. This review also highlights the predominantly subjective nature of the assessment methods used to measure the effects of VR training. Additionally, the findings call for further empirical exploration in novel skill training contexts encompassing cognitive and affective learning outcomes, as well as other potential external factors that may influence learning outcomes in VR.

Accelerating technological advancement in the maritime industry is gradually increasing the range of functions once performed by humans to become automated. In the era of autonomous shipping, where the autonomous operating system takes the lead and data flows define decision-making, how the ship and its leaders can successfully navigate these new ways of working have important implications for safety, efficiency and reliability of future ship operations. It is critical that the non-technical skills requirements, in particular the leadership competencies, be re-evaluated as new operational paradigms of shipping systems emerge and evolve. This study extends the current research of Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS) by using a Delphi consensus survey and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) with a panel of 36 experts to (1) bridge a knowledge gap, i.e., the lack of an understanding regarding the leadership implication of autonomous shipping; (2) evaluate the applicability of current STCW leadership requirements for MASS operations; (3) identify and prioritize the leadership competences that should be accrued by the personnel involved in future ship operations. The results have shown that the current STCW framework is not fully relevant for MASS. The redefined leadership competence and the constructed hierarchy of criticality generated from this study can be valuable input for revision of the STCW and maritime education and training practices, contributing to successful ship operations of the future.