A Summary of Visual Gaze and Dwell Times for Army Pilots During Mission Simulations

A Summary of Visual Gaze and Dwell Times for Army Pilots During Mission Simulations

Jamison S. Hicks, Michael Sage Jessee, and David B. Durbin


February 2012; 68 pages

ARL-TR-5900 2012


The U.S. Army Research Laboratory, Human Research and Engineering Directorate (ARL HRED) uses engineering helicopter simulators to assess crewstation design for Army Aviation aircraft. This report summarizes pilot (PI) visual gaze and dwell times obtained during operational missions conducted with seven engineering simulators. The data were obtained from pilots wearing a head and eye tracker during the simulations to identify if the crewstation design caused significant heads down time during missions. The visual gaze and dwell times for each simulator were compared to the other simulators. Analysis of visual gaze and dwell times will continue to play a meaningful role in the assessment and future development of Army Aviation systems