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Cognitive issues in head-up displaysThe ability of pilots to recognize and act upon unexpected information, presented in either the outside world or in a head-up display (HUD), was evaluated. Eight commercial airline pilots flew 18 approaches with a flightpath-type HUD and 13 approaches with conventional instruments in a fixed-base 727 simulator. The approaches were flown under conditions of low visibility, turbulence, and wind shear. Vertical and lateral flight performance was measured for five cognitive variables: an unexpected obstacle on runway; vertical and lateral boresight-type offset of the HUD; lateral ILS beam bend-type offset; and no anomaly. Mean response time to the runway obstacle was longer with HUD than without it (4.13 vs 1.75 sec.), and two of the pilots did not see the obstacle at all with the HUD. None of the offsets caused any deterioration in lateral flight performance, but all caused some change in vertical tracking; all offsets seemed to magnify the environmental effects. In all conditions, both vertical and lateral tracking was better with the HUD than with the conventional instruments.
Document ID
19810005125
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Technical Publication (TP)
Authors
Fischer, E.
(NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Haines, R. F.
(San Jose State Univ. Calif., United States)
Date Acquired
September 4, 2013
Publication Date
December 1, 1980
Subject Category
Man/System Technology And Life Support
Report/Patent Number
NASA-TP-1711
A-8246
Accession Number
81N13636
Funding Number(s)
PROJECT: RTOP 505-35-21
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.
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