THE EFFECTS OF SUBTHRESHOLD VISUAL CUES ON FLIGHT PERFORMANCE IN THE NUH-60FS BLACK HAWK RESEARCH SIMULATOR

THE EFFECTS OF SUBTHRESHOLD VISUAL CUES ON FLIGHT PERFORMANCE IN THE NUH-60FS BLACK HAWK RESEARCH SIMULATOR

USAARL 2011-19


JEREMY ATHY, ARTHUR ESTRADA, EDNA RATH, SANDRA BORN, JOHN RAMICCIO

PILOTS WORK IN ONE OF THE MOST COGNITIVELY DEMANDING ENVIRONMENTS. WHILE TECHNOLOGY CONTINUES TO ADVANCE WITH RESPECT TO QUANTITY AND QUALITY OF INFORMATION PRESENTATION, THE HUMAN VISUAL SYSTEM REMAINS WITH LIMITATIONS AND THUS INFORMATION PROCESSING MAY BECOME MORE COMPLEX FOR PILOTS. THEREFORE, IT IS IMPORTANT TO FIND IMPROVED TECHNIQUES FOR INFORMATION PRESENTATION IN THE COCKPIT WITHOUT SACRIFICING OVERALL FLIGHT PERFORMANCE. ONE POTENTIALLY USEFUL FORM OF PRESENTATION IS SUBTHRESHOLD CUEING. THIS STUDY REQUIRED PILOTS TO FLY A MISSION IN THE UH-60 SIMULATOR WHILE PRESENTED WITH SUBTHRESHOLD CUES ON A MULTIFUNCTION DISPLAY. RESULTS SUGGEST THAT PILOTS WERE ABLE TO PROCESS SUBTHRESHOLD CUES WITHOUT COMPROMISING FLIGHT PERFORMANCE