Biases on visual warnings during multiple target visual searches on mine monitoring interface

With the continuous development of human–computer interaction, some industrial monitoring systems have gradually evolved from a single monitoring device to a comprehensive monitoring system platform, and multi-objective visual search is particularly important in the field of industrial monitoring. This study investigates the effect of conceptual and perceptual biases on similarity bias in multiple target visual searches and proposes relevant design strategies that can be applied to warning interfaces. The results of two experiments show that the effect of the similarity bias is due to the combined effects of conceptual and perceptual similarities, and on this basis, we propose a design strategy for the interface of a gas extraction monitoring system used in mines in a third experiment. An existing interface to monitor gas extraction and a proposed interface with modifications made to the existing interface are evaluated. The results confirm that the modified interface effectively improves visual search performance during multiple target visual searches. The research findings are important for reducing cognitive decision errors during related monitoring work and ensuring the performance of the mine gas safety monitoring system interfaces. The findings can also guide the designing of visual warning elements of different targets for other monitoring interfaces.