Multidimensional measure of display clutter and pilot performance for advanced head-up display.

Introduction: This study was conducted to: develop a multidimensional measure of display clutter for advanced head-up displays (HUDs) incorporating enhanced and synthetic vision; assess the influence of HUD configuration on perceptions of display clutter, workload, and flight performance; model clutter scores in terms of visual display properties; and model flight performance in terms of subjective and objective clutter indices.

Methods: In a flight simulator, 18 pilots with different levels of flight experience flew approaches divided into three segments. Three HUD configuration sets were presented under two levels of flight workload.

Perceived clutter in advanced cockpit displays: measurement and modeling with experienced pilots.

Introduction: Synthetic and enhanced vision systems (SVS and EVS) are being introduced into the cockpit to promote safety under workload conditions. Integration of existing iconic imagery with SVS and EVS displays may lead to perceptions of clutter. This research evaluated head-up display (HUD) features, including SVS, EVS, traffic collision avoidance system symbology, flight pathway (TUNNEL) guidance, and different primary flight display symbol sets, on pilot perceptions of clutter.

Pilots strategically compensate for display enlargements in surveillance and flight control tasks.

Objective: Experiments were conducted to assess the impact of display size on flight control, airspace surveillance, and goal-directed target search.

Background: Research of 3-D displays has shown that display scale compression influences the perception of flight path deviation, though less is known about the causes that drive this effect. In addition, research on attention-based tasks has shown that information displaced to significant eccentricities can amplify effort, but it is unclear whether the effect generates a performance difference in complex displays.