The Influence of Visualization on Control Performance in a Flight Simulator

Flight simulators are often assessed in terms of how well they imitate the physical reality that they endeavor to recreate. Given that vehicle simulators are primarily used for training purposes, it is equally important to consider the implications of visualization in terms of its influence on the user's control performance. In this paper, we report that a complex and realistic visual world environment can result in larger performance errors compared to a simplified, yet equivalent, visualization of the same control task. This is accompanied by an increase in subjective workload. A detailed analysis of control performance indicates that this is because the error perception is more variable in a real world environment.

[1]  Edward J. Rinalducci,et al.  Visual Cueing Effectiveness: Comparison of Perception and Flying Performance , 1983 .

[2]  René van Paassen,et al.  Modeling Human Control of Self-Motion Direction With Optic Flow and Vestibular Motion , 2013, IEEE Transactions on Cybernetics.

[3]  Matthew P. Reed,et al.  Comparison of driving performance on-road and in a low-cost simulator using a concurrent telephone dialling task , 1999 .

[4]  A. R. Perry,et al.  The FlightGear flight simulator , 2004 .

[5]  Stephen Grossberg,et al.  A neural model of how the brain computes heading from optic flow in realistic scenes , 2009, Cognitive Psychology.

[6]  J M Flach,et al.  Sources of optical information useful for perception of speed of rectilinear self-motion. , 1990, Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance.

[7]  D G Pelli,et al.  The VideoToolbox software for visual psychophysics: transforming numbers into movies. , 1997, Spatial vision.

[8]  D H Brainard,et al.  The Psychophysics Toolbox. , 1997, Spatial vision.

[9]  Max Mulder,et al.  Influences of Simulator Motion System Characteristics on Pilot Control Behavior , 2013 .

[10]  S. Hart,et al.  Development of NASA-TLX (Task Load Index): Results of Empirical and Theoretical Research , 1988 .

[11]  Woodrow Barfield,et al.  The Effects of Visual Cues to Realism and Perceived Impact Point during Final Approach , 1989 .

[12]  John M. Flach,et al.  Control Theory for Humans: Quantitative Approaches To Modeling Performance , 2002 .