Primary Flight Display	Head Up Display

Reduced visibility affects the safety and efficiency of nearly all flight operations. As a result, researchers have looked for ways to improve and/or provide a vision capability to pilots that is independent of actual visibility or weather conditions. In recent years, research has focused on two technologies - Synthetic and Enhanced Vision Systems (SVS/EVS). SVS technology provides pilots with a virtual visual depiction of features in the external environment superimposed with relevant aircraft state, guidance, and navigation information. In an SVS, the geographic location and dimensions of many of these features are stored in on-board databases or models.

In contrast, EVS technology uses imaging sensors that attempt to "see through" obscurations such as those produced by darkness, cloud, or fog. Raw, or processed, video images derived from EVS sensors are typically presented to pilots on Head-Up Displays. A third construct - integrated SVS/EVS - is also emerging that takes advantage of the complementary characteristics of each. For example, SVS is independent of weather effects and provides unlimited field-of-regard; while EVS is independent of navigation system and geo-spatial model failures or errors. The idea is that although the methods, architectures, and operational issues associated with SVS and EVS are significantly different, integrating the two approaches can provide a more robust capability.

This seminar begins with a synopsis of the effects of low visibility on operational safety and efficiency and highlights how flight deck technology has evolved with respect to mitigating these effects. Next, a summary of the research issues associated with SVS/EVS concepts are introduced followed by selected findings from recent studies. Discussion will consider avionics systems issues as well as display design and information transfer requirements taken from a human factors perspective (e.g. man-machine interface issues). The notion of intuitive displays is a guiding principle. Based on analyses and a series of human-in-the-loop experiments, results have led to a set of design criteria, or recommendations, for characteristics such as system integrity, terrain resolution, field-of-regard, pathway depiction, SVS/EVS scene fusion, and the spatial distribution of information across head-up and head-down display surfaces.

Finally, a preview of the future is given based on the concept of Equivalent Visual Operations (EVO). EVO is one of eight key capabilities that have been identified by the Joint Planning Development Office for the Next Generation Air Transportation System. Current and future research in ARMD's Integrated Intelligent Flight Deck project is seeking innovative solutions to the technical challenges associated with the EVO application domain. Highlighting some of these challenges from a flight deck perspective culminates the seminar.

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