Tactile Stimulation of the Human Head for Information Display (original) (raw)

AUDIOTACTILE AIDS FOR IMPROVING PILOT SITUATION AWARENESS

Up to one-third of all aircraft mishaps are attributable to spatial disorientation (SD), costing lives and millions of dollars. One potential solution is to provide supplementary sensory cues to help improve pilots' situation awareness (SA). Given existing demands on the pilot's visual system, audition and touch present the greatest potential for success. However, accurate 3D audio perception may be problematic in noisy operational environments. To determine the effects, participants performed an azimuth cue localization task while listening to 90 dB helicopter noise. Cue modalities conditions included 3D audio, vibrotactile, and audiotactile. Accuracy was better and response times were significantly faster for tactile and audiotactile cues than for 3D audio cues alone. The results illustrate the deleterious effects of loud ambient noise on 3D audio localization and suggest audiotactile cues may offer a viable alternative non-visual display for counteracting SD.

Vibrotactile Displays for Improving Spatial Awareness

Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting

This paper discusses the effects of tactile cueing on performance in a fixed base simulated helicopter hover task. Sixteens active-duty military helicopter pilots participated in a repeated measures two minute stationary hover test. Participants performed the hover task under four treatment conditions; tactile cueing (on/off) and secondary arithmetic task (on/ofT). Following each 2-minute hover, participants reported subjective situation awareness using the five point China Lake Situation Awareness Scale (CLSA). Total time on target improved with tactile cueing with a significant task by display interaction. Performance on the arithmetic task remained consistent across conditions and no significant change was seen on CLSA scores between the tactile/no tactile conditions. Results demonstrate that tactile cues can be used to improve performance in spatial tasks, such as hovering a helicopter, especially in the presence of distracting secondary workload tasks. The lack of a significant difference in SA scores may be more related to the pilots' overall high confidence in their SA, despite their variation in performance, and highlights some of the difficulties encountered when attempting to measure SA.

Chapter 3 - HUMAN FACTORS ISSUES OF TACTILE DISPLAYS FOR MILITARY ENVIRONMENTS

The overall goal of this chapter is to give the reader insights into the human factors issues related to the use of tactile displays. Torso-mounted displays, which are particularly suited for direction and orientation cues, are emphasized. First, perceptual issues relevant to tactile stimulation are discussed. These include issues regarding spatial acuity and absolute localization of tactile cues on the torso, such as internal reference points, anchor points, and spatial accuracy. In addition, tactile illusions, burst durations, and temporal effects are discussed in relation to tactile torso display design. A second section focuses on issues related to coding principles; that is, how best to develop tactile patterns to be intuitively understood within a specific operational context. Cognitive issues are then addressed, such as how tactile stimulation can either alleviate or exacerbate attention tunneling, and the extent to which multiple tactile patterns can be used effectively. Cog...

Audiotactile Displays for Improving Situation Awareness and Mitigating Spatial Disorientation

Spatial disorientation (SD) from loss of situation awareness (SA) is a significant safety hazard for helicopter pilots. The focus of the present research is to highlight the potential utility of multimodal displays for improving SA and counteracting SD, particularly for scenarios specific to rotary wing flight. These circumstances include degraded visual environments (DVE; e.g., brownout conditions, rotor wash) and vection, the illusion of self motion. Herein, we propose audiotactile displays may provide the best means for displaying egocentric information to the pilot to mitigate SD by providing supplementary information when visual cues are absent and alternative information when visual cues may be misleading.

Tactile Situation Awareness System: Recent Developments for Aviation

Recent system development efforts have been made concerning a Tactile Situation Awareness System (TSAS). TSAS is a garment containing vibrotactile stimulators that provide aircraft flight control feedback to the torso. TSAS is intended to improve human factors during flight by reducing workload, increasing situation awareness, and reducing the likelihood of brownout mishaps. During simulation and flight tests, pilots using TSAS have demonstrated the ability to non-visually hover helicopters, while consistently reporting reduced workload and increased situation awareness. The current effort enlarged the surface area of the garment to extend the capability beyond hovering to include complete forward flight control (pitch and roll) so that the technology could be transitioned to the helicopter pilot community and effect a reduction of brownout mishaps. The following describes the delivery of this new suite of capabilities, including the cueing garments, avionics interfaces, and software compatible with military helicopter platforms.

Tactile cues for orienting pilots during hover over moving targets

Introduction : Providing information via the tactile sensory system allows the pilot to increase awareness without further taxing the visual and auditory perceptual systems. In this study, tactile cues were presented to pilots for target orientation during a simulated helicopter extraction over a moving target. The effi cacy of the cues provided by the tactile system was assessed under various conditions (rested vs. fatigued, clear vs. degraded visual environment). Methods: This study employed a mixed-model 2 4 factorial design, including one between-subjects variable (training amount: minimal, additional) and three within-subjects variables (state: rested, fatigued; visual environment: clear, degraded; tactile cue belt: active, inactive). Across 2 d under the 4 test conditions, 16 UH-60 rated, healthy aviators completed 8 sessions of 10-min stabilized hovering maneuvers over a moving target. All fl ights were conducted in a UH-60 fl ight simulator. Results: Subjects were able to stay closer to the target when the tactile cuing system was active (M 5 31.14 ft, SE 5 3.17 ft) vs. inactive (M 5 36.33 ft, SE 5 2.84 ft). Likewise, subjects rated their situation awareness as greater when the tactile system was active vs. inactive. Discussion: The results support the effi cacy of the tactile system in providing directional cues for maintaining pilot performance during a hover maneuver over a moving target.

Chapter 1 - INTRODUCTION TO TACTILE DISPLAYS IN MILITARY ENVIRONMENTS

Challenging situations, such as those encountered by military pilots, are often a major thrust for ergonomic innovation. Examples include the development of advanced, multimodal, and intuitive interface techniques to counteract the danger of visual, auditory, and cognitive overload. Tactile displays (displays that use the skin as an information channel) typically belong to this category. The variety of tactile displays ranges from a single vibrating element (like those in mobile phones) to matrices of elements covering the torso of a pilot, soldier, diver, or other operator. Examples of this matrix display are the TNO Tactile Torso Display (TTTD, see Figure 1.1) and the Naval Aeromedical Research Laboratory Tactile Situation Awareness System (TSAS), which both provide intuitive three-dimensional spatial information. Figure 1.1: A Helicopter Pilot Showing a TNO Tactile Torso Display (TTTD), Consisting of a Matrix of Vibrating Elements Inside a MultiPly Garment Covering the Pilot's Torso.

Tactile Situation Awareness System

Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting, 2016

Recent system development efforts have been made concerning a Tactile Situation Awareness System (TSAS). TSAS is a garment containing vibrotactile stimulators that provide aircraft flight control feedback to the torso. TSAS is intended to improve human factors during flight by reducing workload, increasing situation awareness, and reducing the likelihood of brownout mishaps. During simulation and flight tests, pilots using TSAS have demonstrated the ability to non-visually hover helicopters, while consistently reporting reduced workload and increased situation awareness. The current effort enlarged the surface area of the garment to extend the capability beyond hovering to include complete forward flight control (pitch and roll) so that the technology could be transitioned to the helicopter pilot community and effect a reduction of brownout mishaps. The following describes the delivery of this new suite of capabilities, including the cueing garments, avionics interfaces, and softwar...

Development of Tactile and Haptic Systems for U.S. Infantry Navigation and Communication

Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2011

In this paper we discuss plans initiated to develop and evaluate multisensory displays (i.e. visual, haptic, tactile) to support dismounted (i.e., not in vehicle) Soldier movement, communication, and targeting. Human factors studies of an array of military operational roles have shown significant demand for focal visual attention that diminishes the capacity for task-sharing and attention allocation, especially in the context of unexpected changes and events. If other sensory modalities can be effectively used in a military environment, the benefit could be significant in increasing survivability, information flow, and mission achievement. We discuss operational task demands and two efforts supported from a 2010 SBIR (Small Business Innovative Research) topic.