Pathway HUDs: are they viable?

We describe two experiments that examine 3D pathway displays in a head-up location for aircraft landing and taxi. We address both guidance performance and pilot strategies in dividing, focusing, and allocating attention between flight path information and event monitoring. In Experiment 1 the 3D pathway head-up display (HUD) was compared with a conventional 2D HUD.

Head-up displays: effects of clutter, display intensity, and display location on pilot performance.

Two experiments examined the effects of display location (head-up and head-down), display clutter, and display intensity on pilot performance in a general aviation-cruise flight environment. In Experiment 1, a low-fidelity simulation revealed that the detection of commanded flight changes and flight-path tracking performance was better in the head-down condition as compared to the head-up condition. In contrast, midair traffic detection was superior with the head-up display (HUD), reflecting an attentional trade-off.