Assessing the Effects of Conformal Terrain Features in Advanced Head-Up Displays on Pilot Performance

Abstract

The objective of this study was to assess the effect of Synthetic Vision System (SVS) and/or Enhanced Vision System (EVS) rendering of terrain features on pilot performance, including path control and situation awareness (SA), when presented in an advanced head-up display (HUD) during various phases of a landing approach under instrument meteorological conditions (IMCs). Results indicated that SVS imagery increase overall SA but degraded flight path control performance due to visual confusion with other display features. EVS increased flight path control accuracy but decreased system awareness by creating visual distractions for pilots (moisture returns), while they were focused on path control. The combination of SVS and EVS generated offsetting effects but there were still decrements in performance in the final landing phase due to overall HUD clutter. In general, display configurations in this study did not affect pilot spatial awareness but there was an influence on awareness of (iconic) system information. An IMC-day condition produced worse pilot performance than night flight because of reduced visual saliency of HUD information features. Flight performance was not different between phases of approach but levels and types of pilot SA did vary from leg to leg.

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