The coming increase in air space utilization and the corresponding
need to reduce the incidence of human and system errors is expected
to place increasing stress on the human operators and decision
makers who directly interact with the air transportation system.
It is expected that existing technologies and procedures will
be inadequate to alleviate this stress at minimum cost and to
reduce the incidence of human error and potentially catastrophic
system failure. Consequently, research into novel displays, controls,
and procedures is required to explore innovative techniques for
safe and efficient management of the increasingly dense air traffic
system. This element is intended to spark this innovation. It
is divided into three sub-elements: human perception, cognitive
models and metrics, and physiological research.
The Psychological/ Physiological Stressors and Factors research project goal is to develop new technologies and procedures to measure and reduce this increased stress within the air traffic system. Techniques will be developed to quantify the specific errors that the stress may cause. Knowledge will be developed that will enable innovative technologies and procedures that may be integrated into the national air transportation system to preserve its integrity. Stress is not simply considered to be the psychological stress of operators who have to deal with increasingly frequent takeoffs and landings, but it also includes the increasing visual clutter of the electronic displays they use and the increasing aural clutter of the audio channels. Research conducted on the enumerated elements below will 1) develop computational tools that will better allow the aeronautical community to analyze the perceptual fidelity of the human machine interfaces that they use, 2) assist analysis of perceptual problems with existing displays, and 3) explore the utility of revolutionary new perceptual display technology that may be adopted by the aeronautical community in the next century.
The Psychological/ Physiological Stressors and Factors research
project uses analytical, experimental and actuarial methods to
measure and predict human performance within all sectors of the
nation's air transportation system. The human perception sub-element
focuses on development of new methods, computational models, and
metrics that will enable optimization of operator sensory-motor
interaction with the displays and controls of the national air
space system. The cognitive model sub- element focuses on models
of the human operator information processing during interaction
with the air transportation system with the goal of understanding
how operator attention may focused or misfocused by the system.
The physiological sub- element will consider the role of physiologically
based variation in alertness and develop novel work rules to manage
disturbances in operators' circadian rhythms while working within
the air transportation system. This sub-element will also assess
the impact of these innovative work rules. In addition to the
usual publication of technical reports and scientific journal
articles, the results of the research and development conducted
under the Elements below will be disseminated to the aeronautical
community through workshops and site visits organized and conducted
by the principal investigators.
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