Examining the Effects of Conformal Terrain Features in Advanced Head-Up Displays on Flight Performance and Pilot Situation Awareness

The head-up displays (HUD's) of today's fighter aircraft present numerous symbology formats to the pilot which are essential for successful perfomance of a variety of flight tasks from navigation to weapons delivery. One common element in all of these formats is the pitch ladder, designed to provide the pilot with aircraft attitude even in the absence of external visual cues. Unlike the head down attitude director indicator (ADI), the HUD pitch ladder's intent is to aid the pilot in recovering from an unusual attitude while staying head-up. The purpose of this research was to compare the relative effectiveness of two changes to current pitch ladder symbology designed to enhance the pilot's ability to recover from unusual attitudes –the use of angled pitch bars versus standard straight pitch bars, and multicolor versus the standard monochromatic symbology. The results showed that, in extreme unusual attitudes, the use of both the angled pitch bars and color contributed to better flight performance. In the non-extreme attitudes however, where the horizon line is always visible, the standard symbology was sufficient for recovery.

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Attention and Entropy in Simulated Flight with Varying Cognitive Loads

Aerospace Medicine and Human Performance ◽

10.3357/amhp.5504.2020 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 91 (6) ◽

pp. 489-495

Author(s):

Tianjiao Lu ◽

Zhenshan Lou ◽

Feng Shao ◽

Yuan Li ◽

Xuqun You

Keyword(s):

Visual Search ◽

Eye Movements ◽

Cognitive Load ◽

Eye Movement ◽

Situation Awareness ◽

Search Strategies ◽

Fixation Time ◽

Flight Performance ◽

Area Of Interest ◽

Subject Experiment

INTRODUCTION: This study is conducted to observe the effects of cognitive load on the visual search and attention allocation strategies of pilots. Research on pilots’ visual search strategies can provide valuable information regarding attention distribution and transformation, as well as useful situation awareness (SA) predictions.METHODS: A total of 18 pilots performed flight tasks in a two-condition (high and low cognitive load) within-subject experiment to compare their flight performance and eye movement indicators. Eye movements were tracked during the flight mission by a portable eye-tracking device.RESULTS: Compared to the low cognitive load task, in the high cognitive load task, the subjects exhibited shorter average fixation times (M = 420.38, SD = 60.56), higher fixation frequencies (M = 2.27, SD = 0.30), and lower saccade frequencies (M = 2.7, SD = 0.31). Their flight performance was better during the low cognitive load task, as evidenced by the lower entropy (M = 0.11, SD = 0.03) of their eye movements. Analysis of fixation time percentages and fixation counts showed that the distribution of attention to each area of interest was adjusted dynamically over the course of the given task.DISCUSSION: Significant differences were observed in both fixation order and fixation frequency across the instrument array. When the cognitive load is high, the subjects used more efficient eye movement patterns and search strategies accompanying a higher level of SA.Lu T, Lou Z, Shao F, Li Y, You X. Attention and entropy in simulated flight with varying cognitive loads. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2020; 91(6):489–495.

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