Linking Team Situation Awareness Through Verbal Communication Patterns

Team Situation Awareness (TSA), a collective understanding of changes in the surroundings, is critical in human-human teaming in dynamic settings. Team members maintain their TSA through continuous verbal communication, yet little is known about how communication is associated with TSA. This study investigated the association between TSA and communication patterns across SA levels and dimensions (environment, task, and team) in a construction setting. Twenty-one dyads (42 people) completed a two-worker-cobot pipe task in a VR construction site. Participants collaboratively performed an interdependent pipe task while monitoring potential hazards, task progress, and teammates’ status. Communication was analyzed using the speech act coding framework, and TSA was assessed using the SAGAT survey, serving as ground truth. The results show that high TSA dyads generated more level 2 environmental communication and demonstrated a more balanced communication pattern between participants. The results advance understanding of communication in TSA, and support communication-based algorithms for at-risk workers.